Jack Frost is nipping at La Salle’s doorstep as the city gears up for its first-ever winter festival, called Frosty on First.

In May, city officials announced that they would rebrand and revamp Celebrate La Salle, the annual four-day summer festival, into a winter celebration.

“We’ve designed an event that we hope will incentivize people to come downtown,” said Brent Bader, La Salle’s director of public relations and community development. “Explore what our downtown has to offer, and interact with many of the businesses.”

Live music will fill the weekend. Harmonix performs Friday, followed by Chicago violinist Rachael Miller from 5 to 7 p.m. Saturday. The Windy City Dueling Pianos will close out the night from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m.

“I’m really excited for the dueling pianos,” Bader said. “It’s unique, especially in the heart of downtown. It’s going to create a great atmosphere.”

The festival will feature an ice skating rink with rental skates, an inflatable snowman bounce house, an inflatable maze and a Snow-Zilla slide.

Unlike Celebrate La Salle’s carnival, Frosty on First allowed the city to be selective about the equipment brought downtown, Bader said.

“What’s nice is when the community interacts with these attractions, we can get feedback,” he said. “If this event is successful, we’ll know which pieces worked and which didn’t.”

Local businesses sponsor each attraction, similar to the Celebration of Lights. Josh Lund of AGG, the city’s largest sponsor, chose to sponsor the ice rink.

“It’s a great opportunity to get involved and be part of the community,” Lund said. “It’s brand-new, so it’ll be exciting to see how it unfolds.”

Winter fun continues with a snowball fight hosted by Ax Church, featuring an obstacle course, giant snow drifts and thousands of fabric snowballs.

“My favorite childhood activity was snowball fights,” said Cameron Graper, pastor at Ax Church. “Then I thought, what if there was a giant course? It would be a snowball battle!”

The city also will have five fire pits downtown for warmth, holiday movies projected for public viewing and photos with reindeer.

A bourbon tasting will be available, with eight tickets for $32, featuring Blanton’s, Eagle Rare, E.H. Taylor, Weller Special Reserve and Stagg.

Multiple food trucks will offer unique options not found in downtown restaurants. The city will provide a map highlighting shops and restaurants for visitors to explore during the festival.