Here’s a cheery excuse to leave the house on Saturday and have some sociable fun, while you notice that the sun is getting a teensy bit higher on the horizon and lingering a few minutes longer each day: the annual Hudson Valley Rail Trail WinterFest.
Staged at the Hudson Valley Rail Trail Depot at 101 New Paltz Road in Highland, this event offers plenty of family-friendly activities, including tractor-drawn hayrides, games, marshmallow-toasting and chestnut-roasting. Various local businesses and civic organizations turn out to provide information and live entertainment. But the centerpiece of WinterFest is the chili competition, in which more than 20 regional restaurants bring their best batches of chili to compete for the coveted “Best of Fest” People’s Choice Award in both the meat and vegetarian categories.
Admission to the event, which runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on January 14, costs $2 for everyone aged 7 and up. Chili samples cost 50 cents each, or $8 to taste them all. For more info, call (781) 640-0881 or visit www.hudsonvalleyrailtrail.net or www.facebook.com/hudsonvalley.railtrail.
Join the family! 
