The Washington Nationals introduced something new this season- a two-day holiday-themed fan fest called WinterFest. That means that there was double the activities and double the fun! The Nats also introduced some new games, like the “Slider” which is basically a tubing slide, and the “Snowball Run” which is where you run in a large inflatable ball. I have some personal favorites from this year’s WinterFest, and I want to tell you about them. I think that the Nationals did a great job with Winterfest this year, and I especially like the new 2-day setup.  I attended the first day with my family and the second day with a friend’s family.

So without further adieu, here are my to 5 faves from Nats Winterfest!

5. Baseball Exhibit

The Nationals brought some items originally shown at the Nats at 10 exhibit at the Newseum. For people who did not get the chance to visit the Newseum when the exhibit was open, the Nationals let the people have an opportunity to see the historical baseball artifacts. Also, the exhibit had New Era hats from each minor league team in the US and Canada. I liked the Everett AquaSox hat.  Minor league teams have such great names and logos.  I also liked the Vermont Lake Monsters and Las Vegas 51s.

4. 2-Day Format

The new 2-day format of Winterfest made it so much less crowded and nice to visit. In past years, when there was only 1 day of NatsFest, there were much more people on that day, therefore making it a hour investment to get an autograph. It was much nicer with an emptier Convention Center, and made it more enjoyable for the fans.

3. Season Ticket Holder Autograph Session

Before Nats Winterfest started, the team allowed 2015 Season Ticket Holders to get autographs from their favorite Nats stars. We were lucky enough to get Stephen Strasburg, Matt Grace, Oliver Perez, Shawn Kelley, Mike Rizzo, Dan Kolko, and new pitching coach Mike Maddux’s autographs. While there was a long line to get the autographs, it was really cool that the Nats did the autographs for STHs this year.

So, Stephen Strasburg recognized me, remembered the name of my blog and asked me how it’s going. pic.twitter.com/4KDoKLfxex

— Matt’s Bats (@MattsBats) December 12, 2015

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2. Snowball Run The Nationals designated an area for the “Snowball Run” this year. The Snowball Run is where you get into a giant inflatable ball that looks like a snowball. You could walk or run in the snowball, making it really fun for everyone. The main target for this event was children, and if you saw the line, you could tell that it was doing its job. Conveniently, it was located close to the kids area, batting cage, video pitch tracker, carnival game, and Stage, so it was easy to get to.

Before we get to my number 1, I wanted to remind you that there is still time left to enter the final round of FREE GIVEAWAYS from my 2015 Holiday Gift Guide.  You win get cool things like toys, books and a personalized Louisville Slugger bat.

1. Lip Sync Battle I mean, who attended Nats Winterfest and DIDN’T watch this! It was hilarious seeing the players lip sync to different songs, and it was nice that the players got to pick fans to lip sync with them. For instance, on Saturday, Anthony Rendon put on a great performance of “Bad To The Bone,” and on Sunday, Bryce Harper serenaded a young fan while singing “My Girl.” But the funniest performance was also by Harper and the rest of his team. He sang “Wannabe” by The Spice Girls, which made it amusing to watch. I think that this takes the cake, without a doubt.

Now, this was REALLY the best part of Nationals WinterFest:

Best part of #NatsWinterfest– getting @CharlieSlowes to record my outgoing voicemail! — Matt’s Bats (@MattsBats) December 12, 2015

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Listen to what it sounds like:

Check out some selfies below I took with some of the players after the event.

@jonfeng1 #FunWithWinterFestPicsBecauseImNotThere pic.twitter.com/MTRTCib6lC

— InsideThaDugout (@InsideThaDugout) December 12, 2015

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BEARD. @JWerthsBeard pic.twitter.com/kHs9vqBldz — Matt’s Bats (@MattsBats) December 12, 2015

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