Madison Polar Plunge 2026(Spectators and Volunteers Welcome/Party in Zoo)
Details
There was some interest in the 2026 Polar Plungeso I thought I'd post a meetup again. I've done it about 5 times here(in air temperature as low as 5 degrees to highest of 50ish degrees) but it's been a bit. Besides the plunge itself there used to be quite a pre and post party at Coliseum Bar(across from Olin Park or Alliant where it used to be held).
The Vilas Park Zoo is the new location for it this year and it seems like the pre/possibly post party is inside The Glacier Bay Grill within the zoo. There might be limited parking at the zoo so there are also shuttles available from Edgewood High School and Liberty Station(so Liberty Station might be the actual post-party spot). They did typically do times by group reservation but it seems like most of the larger/corporate groups are shifted to Friday now but there is a noon shut off for. Please note that there is a $100 donation to Special Olympics required to plunge(I'm lazy and just pay my own but you can fundraise if you wish instead). As mentioned if you'd rather just watch, hang out later or do camera ops you are welcome to join the meetup as well-but in the end we'd like to jump as a team so please let us know if you are in so we can group up for that part. I did also later create a plunge team called The Never Nudes(that we've used in the past-based on Arrested Development), which after a bit of issues seems to be linked individual profiles-so you can join via plunge team link. Please note that check-in ends(which inside Glacier Grille) at noon, I plan on getting there at 11:30 for that and we're planning on plunging at around 1:00ish. I'll post a message as to when I arrive as to where I'm at.
In terms of volunteering I did participate in the Thursday Tent Setup Volunteer Event but if you wanted to volunteer/hang out on the day of event it looks like as of now(among many open spots-see the link) there are 4 open shifts available(among others) for Hot Tub Attendent if that's a bit more your activity level-rather than plunging.