Crested Butte to Hose 42nd Annual Flauschink Festival

by TravelPulse Staff
Last updated: 12:02 AM ET, Mon March 8, 2010

Crested Butte is holding the 42nd annual Flauschink, March 31 to April 4, a tongue-in-cheek festival celebrating the end of the ski season. Flauschink festivities begin at Talk of the Town on Thursday, April 1 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. The cost is $4 with a Flauschink button and $7 without a button.

Flauschink officially kicks off with a coronation ball held on Friday, April 2 at 9 p.m. to crown the new king and queen of Flauschink and enjoy an evening of polka dancing with the Pete Dunda Polka Band at The Eldo. The cost is $5 with a button and $8 without a button. 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 3, 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. The celebration ends 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. For more information, visit www.GunnisonCrestedButte.com.