Annual Gingerbread Festival
The 27th Annual Gingerbread Festival will take place from November 24 to December 30, 2023.
Are you considering participating?
Take a look at our Gingerbread Festival Resources here.
Review the entry guidelines here.
If you would like to receive information about participating in the Gingerbread Festival, please contact jen.balge@kohler.com to be included in future communications.
Gingerbread Festival Hours
November 24 – December 30, 2023
Sunday through Friday: 1–5 pm
Saturday: 10 am–5 pm
Saturday and Sunday musical performances begin at 2:00 p.m.
(no guided tours are offered during performances but are otherwise offered at our usual schedule of 2:00, 3:00, and 4:00 p.m. daily.)
The Kohler Foundation has tallied the votes to determine the winners of the 26th Annual Gingerbread Festival. 57 entries were viewed and voted on by more than 3,400 visitors to the historic Waelderhaus. The overall highest vote-getter of the festival was “The House That Jack Built” created by Viki Grunewald’s kindergarten class from Lake Country Academy in Sheboygan. The class was inspired by the book This is the House that Jack Built written and illustrated by Simms Taback.
Prizes, based on tallied votes, are being awarded in seven categories.
The first-place winners in each category were awarded $500. They include:
Pre-school: St. John the Baptist Catholic School “Gingerbread Church”
Grades K-2: Lake Country Academy “The House That Jack Built”
Grades 3-5: Sheboygan Christian School “RMS Titanic”Grades 6-8: Sheboygan Falls Middle School “Candy Cane Lane”Grades 9-12: Random Lake High School “Shrek’s Swamp”Community Groups: Plymouth-Cedar Grove AFS Students “Exchange Student Christmas Village”Open: The Dennis Christian Family “Santa’s Christmas Vacation in Elkhart Lake”
Second-place winners earned a $250 cash prize. They include:
Pre-school: John Michael Kohler Arts Center Preschool “Gingerbird House” Grades K-2: St. John Lutheran School Plymouth (Miss Scheele’s) “Beach Oasis”
Grades 3-5: St. John Lutheran School Plymouth (Mrs. MacGillis) “Farm”
Grades 6-8: St. John Lutheran School Plymouth (Mrs. MacGillis) “Christmas Mini Golf”
Grades 9-12: Cedar Grove Belgium High School (Mrs. Urness’s) “Winter in the Woods”Community Groups: Hub City 4H Club (Lori Schmid) “A Minion Christmas at the North Pole”Open: The Williams Family “Christmas in the 100 Acre Woods”
Third place honorees and recipients of a $100 award are:
Pre-school: Kohler Elementary Junior Kindergarten “Bluey’s Holiday in Brisbane”Grades K-2: St. John Lutheran School Plymouth (Miss Meyer) “Rejoice in the Lord”Grades 3-5: St. John Lutheran School Plymouth (Mrs. MacGillis) “Dragon Castle”
Grades 6-8: St. John Lutheran School Plymouth (Mrs. MacGillis) “Winter Cabin”
Grades 9-12: Elkhart Lake Glenbeulah High School “A Snow Globe Wonderland”Community Groups: Total Care Group “Spiderman’s Home in New York”Open: The TeBeest Family (Ashley TeBeest) “Cinderella’s Castle”
Thank you to all our participants and visitors for being a part of our 26th year. The 27th Annual Gingerbread Festival will run from November 24 to December 30, 2023. To be added to an email list about the festival next year, send a note to jen.balge@gmail.com.
Be sure to find us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and visit us at Arts at the Waelderhaus this year!
