Crested Butte’s 40th Annual Flauschink Flushes Out Winter & Welcomes Spring – April 9 – 13, 2008

The last weekend of ski and snowboard season isn’t a quiet occasion in Colorado’s last great ski town, Crested Butte, where the expected rarely happens. Locals and visitors will be flushing out winter and welcoming spring with the 40th annual Flauschink, April 9 - 13, 2008.



“Flauschink is an important celebration for our community. It allows people to get together after a long winter and to remember why we are here. There is even more to celebrate this year with the ski area staying open an additional week,” says festival organizer and 1996 Flauschink Queen Michelle English.



Flauschink is the flip side of the town’s Vinotok, a harvest festival that celebrates Crested Butte’s Eastern European heritage in September. Vinotok invites people to come outside and play, be merry and enjoy fall before the snow begins.



· Pre-Flauschink festivities begin at Talk of the Town on Wednesday, April 9 with a 7 p.m. slide show by Dr. Duane Vandenbusche, a Western State College (WSC) history professor and authority on Gunnison County and Colorado history. A Flauschink tale also will be told by George Sibley, founder of Flauschink and a retired WSC professor.



· Flauschink officially kicks off with a coronation ball held on Friday, April 11 at 9 p.m. to crown the new king and queen of Flauschink and enjoy an evening of polka dancing at The Eldo, a longtime local tradition. “To be a true Crested Buttian, you have to polka. Many people who have been to every Flauschink are there. It is a fun time for the community to get together and dance—something people in Crested Butte do best,” English says.



· The king and queen of Flauschink typically have three things in common: they are involved in the community, enjoy longtime resident status, and are held in high esteem by other locals. A parade on Saturday, April 12, honors the king and queen as they proudly raise scepters made from toilet plungers, gives “Has-Been” royalty the chance to wear their crowns and ride on a float again, and provides a reason to rain down fun on Elk Avenue, Crested Butte’s historic business district. The parade will begin at 3 p.m.



· On Sunday, the festival and ski season will draw to a fitting close with the Flauschink king and queen holding court on the slopes at Crested Butte Mountain Resort. Skiers and snowboarders pass by Flauschink Hill, above Twister warming house deck, to toast royalty.



Flauschink buttons are sold at various locations in Crested Butte to raise money for the festival and to provide discounts on slide show and coronation ball tickets. Also, don’t miss the Flauschink exhibition at the Crested Butte Mountain Heritage Museum. For more information, call Michelle English at (970) 349-7348.