In a classic case of wanting what you can’t have, the fake snow business is booming in the South. ABC News reports that sales of fake snow have roughly doubled this winter as party bookings look for a white Christmas and beyond.
While fake snow isn’t much more than flaked and softened ice, getting a 70-foot toboggan run for a party in Florida has turned into the latest craze. One makes such “snow” by turning chunks of ice into flakes of snow by softening them in a macerator and then mashing them into flakes. Blowers toss the softened ice up to 45 feet in the air, letting children dance in what amounts to a first “winter” experience for many.
(PHOTOS: Ice and Snow Sculptures)
The imitation stuff will actually stick, as companies dump an average of five to seven tons of the fake snow, covering a 25-square-foot area eight inches deep. But a little taste of the North doesn’t come free, with a fake-snow extravaganza costing as much as $20,000 for a large dusting. But for a little less-extravagant winter feeling you can get away with spending as little as $2,000 for an event.
For the children at these snow-filled parties, it’s a first experience of building a snowman, throwing a snowball or making a snow angel. Plus, to warm up, they don’t even need to go inside for a cup of hot cocoa.