Breckenridge town leaders want to open a conversation about overcrowding after the 2022 International Snow Sculpture Championships led to increased traffic and parking issues over the week of Jan. 24.
Breckenridge Tourism Office President Lucy Kay presented visitor statistics from the event at the Breckenridge Town Council meeting Tuesday, Feb. 8. Overall, fewer people attended the 2022 competition than in 2020, but that doesn’t mean the event didn’t bring in crowds.
Town officials counted 93,627 vehicles driving through Breckenridge throughout the week, which is down 2.7% from the 96,193 cars driving through during the event in 2020. In 2019, when the event caused gridlock traffic that prevented emergency vehicles from getting through town, officials counted 82,729 cars, Kay said. The event was canceled in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mayor Eric Mamula said discussions about events are often frustrating because there are always people who are left displeased.
“During the pandemic, we said we wanted to relook at events, and all we did was get yelled at by people that said we were anti-business,” Mamula said. “Now everybody comes out of the woodwork because it’s too busy.”
