The term music festival usually conjures up images of warm summer evenings and large crowds of scantily clad music lovers, but the Snowball Music Festival breaks out of this summertime mold.

For the past two years, Snowball has offered a music festival experience for those who love the snow, and this year the festival is moving to Winter Park for another three days of music paired with winter conditions.

“We just wanted to explore the idea of using snowy mountains and winter weather as a festival setting, to offer an environment that is unlike the common ‘summer’ festival,” Latane Hughes, one of Snowball’s organizers, said in a Denver Westword Blog interview.

With chilly temperatures and even a chance of snow in the weekend weather report, it looks like Winter Park will have just the wintry backdrop Snowball’s creators were aiming for.

It also means that festival-goers will have the chance to enjoy a few days skiing or boarding Winter Park Resort, which is offering a special Snowball ski pass for the weekend.

“Rolling a ski trip and a music festival into one made for an incredibly exhausting few days, but it was definitely worth it. Skiing makes anything better,” said Snowball 2012 attendee Megan Deaver.

The goal behind Snowball extends beyond the weather, of course. The idea was also to provide a variety of acts so that many different kinds of music fans could enjoy the Snowball experience.

This year’s lineup includes a mix of electronic acts, such as Pretty Lights and Flying Lotus, a range of rock bands, from Portugal to Polica, and house DJs like Aeroplane.

“I love seeing electronic music, with all the lasers and whatnot, but there is also something special about watching artists play actual instruments,” said Danika Rothwell, who accompanied Deaver to last year’s festival. “Getting both experiences in one weekend was really cool.”

In addition to providing musical diversity, Snowball also makes a point of featuring local acts along with the bigger, better-known names.

“Local talent provides the soul of the festival. What better way to reach the true music fans in Colorado than to involve and inspire the local talent within the region,” Hughes said in the Denver Westword Blog interview.

This local talent added to the snowy weather makes for a festival that is Colorado through and through.