Madison is a great place to be during the colder months of the year offering a lot of activities, from festivals and events to indoor entertainment and winter sports. Madison gets a lot of snow but despite the cold, people in Madison take part in many outdoor and indoor activities. Parks become places for ice skating, sledding, and cross-country skiing. Lake Mendota often freezes, becoming a great place for ice fishing and ice skating and several outdoor and indoor artificial ice skating rinks also pop up across the city. Ice skating is a popular winter activity with the many skating locations. Winter in Madison also brings multiple of festive events, like holiday markets, winter festivals, and light displays like the popular “Holiday Fantasy in Lights” held at Olin Park every night. When the temperatures get lower, Madison provides a lot of indoor entertainment options too. The Overture Center for the Arts hosts performances, concerts, and Broadway shows, offering a way to enjoy the winter indoors. School sports that start up in the winter are most prominently both boys and girls basketball and hockey as well as gymnastics.