Downtown Frederick, Md., ushers in the holiday season with the 2022-23 Sailing Through the Winter Solstice display.
By WP Creative Group
November 16, 2022
Every winter, a flock of individually designed and lighted sailboats grace Carroll Creek in downtown Frederick, illuminating the coldest nights of the year with a touch of holiday wonder. Some of the sailboats are otherworldly, like The Kraken, which hosts a 8-foot-tall red octopus at its helm, or the Starry Night, a boat that places the Clustered Spires of Frederick inside the Van Gogh painting of the same name. Others pay tribute to history, like the Vasa, built to replicate a 17th century Swedish Navy ship.
This floating exhibition, dubbed Sailing Through the Winter Solstice, returns this year for another holiday season. Boats will enter the water November 19th, and will continue to brighten the creek until March 2023. The boats can be seen all day, but at dusk, the lights come on and the magic truly begins. The event is also a fundraiser — visitors can vote on their favorite boats, with donations supporting local non-profit organizations.
Setting sail with the USS Hamster
Sailing Through the Winter Solstice was created by Marylanders Peter Kremers and Kyle Thomas in 2016. Thomas brought carpentry skills and a degree in set design; and Kremers brought the inspiration: “My son had been deployed to Iraq and I wanted to do a little homage to him and others serving abroad,” Kremers said. “We started with one boat, theUSS Hamster, because his grandmother called him a hamster when he was a baby.”
The pair spent two weeks building the USS Hamster, working out of Kremers’ garage, sometimes until two in the morning. Their ship eventually sailed the creek for eight weeks.
The following year, more people wanted to get involved, and each year the event grew. Now in its 7th year, Sailing Through the Winter Solstice typically features two dozen sailboats, each bringing their own inspiration and design flair.
“It’s been fun most recently watching other boat builders and creatives get involved in the process,” said Thomas, who says one of his favorite boats is the Black Pearl. “They have a fog machine that goes off between 5:00 and 8:00 at night every night, and it just adds another element to the creek and to the spectacle.”
All the boats are on display from November to March, attracting thousands of visitors to Carroll Creek all winter long.
Inspiring a giving spirit in Frederick County
As the Solstice event grew in size, it also grew in purpose.
The success of the USS Hamster inspired Thomas and Kremers to turn the event into a fundraiser. In 2017, the duo encouraged local businesses to build their own boats in honor of a charity organization in Frederick County and enter it into a competition.
All winter, visitors vote for their favorite sailboats, and each vote represents a $1 donation to that charity. The 2021-22 season raised more than $102,000 for non-profits, making the event both a beautiful sight and an impactful campaignfor the community of Frederick.
In addition to donations, the boat with the most votes at the end of the season is awarded a trophy. For the past two seasons, that winner was Colleen’s Crew, a rowboat sponsored by New Era Custom Design and Cabinet to represent the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The boat was the first of its kind, incorporating eclectic motors that controlled silhouettes of women rowing the boat back and forth.
The Spirit of Maryland is another local favorite. Thomas designed the boat himself to raise money for Habitat for Humanity, even hand painting the sails to mimic the beloved state flag.
“We’re Marylanders; we have a lot of pride,” said Elizabeth McGee, the social media coordinator for the event. “[The boat] seems kind of simple in theory, but to make actual sails that can withstand winter months and be up that whole time was a feat.”
Preserving a colorful creek in a bustling downtown
Downtown Frederick serves as the perfect backdrop for this brightly-lit fleet.
The historic neighborhood stretches over 50 blocks, including Carroll Creek Park, which consists of brick pathways and bridges that allow visitors to take in the experience from both sides of the creek.
“There’s a lot of interesting architecture incorporated into the creek as you walk by all the boats,” said Kara Norman, executive director of Downtown Frederick Partnership. “Our bridges all have an artistic element to them. We have a bifurcated suspension bridge, a bridge that has a trompe l’oeil mural on it, a bridge that looks like ruined iron, and a stone bridge painted with the zodiac.”
The creek itself is a man-made flooding solution the city implemented in the 1970s. While it was successful in managing water levels, the shallow water presented a new problem: unsightly algae growth. Fortunately, Kremers had a solution.
In 2012, he founded Color on the Creek, an all volunteer inspired and managed water garden that uses lilies, lotus plants, and other varieties to shade and cool the creek water, preventing algae growth. One of the most impressive plants, the Victorian Lily, can grow large enough for a person to sit on.
“During our spring and summer months, the lilies and different plants bring a lot of beauty and color,” said McGee. “And these sailboats were able to bring color and light to the creek during the winter, when the water can look gray and murky.”
“The Winter Solstice event literally floats over the top of the dormant plants,” explained Kremers. “All those plants are in containers below the surface from May through the middle of October. Then, a month later, the boats come in and are anchored above the water garden.”
Whether visitors come for the lilies or the holiday sailboats, there’s plenty of year round attractions to experience in downtown Frederick. The area consists of 250 boutiques, restaurants and galleries, from ice cream parlors and toy stores to record shops and theaters.
“Ninety-nine percent of those businesses are independently owned, so you’re going to get a really unique experience,” said Norman. “We also host a variety of holiday related events, like our Kris Kringle parade and holiday house tours.
“If you timed your visit correctly, you could see the boats during the day when the lights aren’t on, hang out downtown and have dinner, and you could do the boats again at night and make a full evening of it.”
Learn more about Sailing Through the Winter Solstice and plan your trip here.
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