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Outdoor ice skating, tubing slope in the works at uptown baseball stadium

The Charlotte Knights minor league baseball team on Thursday revealed plans for a regulation-size ice rink and snow tubing slope at Truist Field in uptown.

The rink and six-lane tubing slope will highlight the team’s expanded “Light the Knights Festival,” scheduled for Nov. 23 through Jan. 8, team officials said.

The third-annual event also will feature holiday lights, entertainment, on-field concessions, gift vendors and visits by Santa.

The Charlotte Knights plan to add an ice skating rink and a snow tubing slope to Truist Field as part of the baseball team’s expanded 2022 “Light the Knights” holiday festival.
The Charlotte Knights plan to add an ice skating rink and a snow tubing slope to Truist Field as part of the baseball team’s expanded 2022 “Light the Knights” holiday festival. Jeff Siner Observer file photo

“We hope to attract people of all ages as our yearly festival continues to grow,” Dan Rajkowski, Knights executive vice president and chief operating officer said in a news release Thursday unveiling the plans.

Besides public skating, the Knights intend to bring figure skaters and youth and adult hockey players to the rink.

Everyone also will be able to use the tubing slope in left field, according to the team, whose 2022 season opens April 12 at the uptown ballpark.

The COVID-19 pandemic canceled another uptown outdoor ice skating rink in 2020 and 2021 — the annual “Holiday on Ice” rink at the NASCAR Hall of Fame. No 2022 plans for that event have been announced.

COVID similarly canceled SouthPark mall’s annual Winter Wonderland SouthPark rink.

In this 2015 file photo, skaters enjoy opening night of the Holiday on Ice outdoor rink at NASCAR Hall of Fame Plaza in uptown Charlotte. The pandemic forced the cancellation of the event the past two years.
In this 2015 file photo, skaters enjoy opening night of the Holiday on Ice outdoor rink at NASCAR Hall of Fame Plaza in uptown Charlotte. The pandemic forced the cancellation of the event the past two years. David T. Foster III Observer file photo

This story was originally published February 3, 2022 at 12:21 PM.

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Joe Marusak
The Charlotte Observer
Joe Marusak has been a reporter for The Charlotte Observer since 1989 covering the people, municipalities and major news events of the region, and was a news bureau editor for the paper. He currently reports on breaking news. Support my work with a digital subscription
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