Thousands will attend Colorado’s weirdest festival this weekend. Frozen Dead Guy Festival is a party for all things ceased, expired, defunct.
The cryogenics Mardi Gras
Frozen Dead Guy Days is inspired by a real-life frozen dead guy, Bredo Morstoel.
Granpa Bredo was soaked in liquid nitrogen for years after his death in 1989. Now he literally chills out in a Tuff Shed in the hills of Ned.
His daughter and grandson, Aud Morstoel and Trygve Bauge, respectively, employ resident Brad Wickham to pack fresh dry ice on Gramps each month, now that they live in Norway.
“It’s like a weird mix of Halloween and the Winter Olympics,” says organizer Amanda MacDonald. “There is something very Monty Python about it isn’t there? Just the name – ‘The Frozen Dead Guy Days.’
In the hearse parade, contestants try to create the most fanciful decorations for these grisly vehicles. But the biggest draw is the coffin races, which involve teams carrying a passenger inside, well, you know.
Teams of six “pallbearers” lug a casket with a “corpse” through a snowy obstacle course.
Some of the activities are all about showmanship – the fancy-dress dives into the icy plunge pool are a must-see.
Some are designed to test “essential” skills, like bowling with a frozen turkey and tossing a 14-pound salmon. (The record to beat is 69 feet for the salmon throw.)
A Rocky Mountain oyster eating contest. The twist: Rocky Mountain oysters are a dish of bull, pig or sheep testicles. At FDGD, the goal is to eat as many as possible for a shot at $100.
Other favorite contests include Newly-Dead Game, a variation on the “Mr & Mrs” game show where contestants are tested on how much they know about their partners’ after-life wishes.
In the Frozen T-shirt competition, competitors get handed something as hard as a brick which they have to smash up and put on as quickly as possible.
New this year is Sunday’s Rise from the Dead Fat Bike Rally — a mile race around town to add a “sports-oriented” addition to the festival, said festival owner Amanda MacDonald.
If this festival doesn’t reanimate you, nothing will.
See the schedule for all the free-to-watch frosty events that go on, along with 3 heated tents providing beer, spirited drinks, food & live music ($10 wristband gets you into all 3 tents) on Saturday & Sunday and Blue Ball ($20 entry) on Friday.
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