Destinations
Chill out at IceFest
By Jen Faul
Looking for a cool way to spend a cold afternoon? Check out the seventh annual Chambersburg IceFest, beginning Thursday, January 29 and running through Sunday, February 1.
“After the holidays have passed, during the doldrums of winter, the IceFest gives people a chance to get out and head downtown. The IceFest is fun for spectators and good for business,” says Karen Carmack, IceFest chairwoman. With an average yearly attendance of 15,000, IceFest is a great way to get out of the house, mingle with friends and neighbors downtown, and kick those winter blahs. “The event is particularly wonderful for downtown merchants,” agrees Penny Shaul, an IceFest committee member. “The IceFest brings in tens of thousands of people.”
The idea for Chambersburg’s IceFest grew out of a successful event of the same nature that was sponsored by the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts in State College. After hearing of that Ice Festival’s warm reception, the Council for the Arts in Chambersburg decided to give the idea a try. The Council for the Arts teamed up with Downtown Chambersburg Inc., an organization of Chambersburg borough merchants, and began planning the first event of its kind in the area. “There were originally some concerns as to how the community would respond,” says Paul Cullinane, an IceFest committee member. The committee needn’t have worried—the response to the festival was overwhelmingly positive. Attendance of the first IceFest numbered around 15,000 people, and that number has remained strong every year. “It was the single most significant promotional event that the town had seen in three decades,” Cullinane says. Carmack agrees. “The IceFest started as a local event, but has grown to attract people regionally to downtown Chambersburg,”
she says.
IceFest is a great way to bring the community together. “I’ve seen people walking up and down the street until one or two in the morning to see the sculptures,” Cullinane recalls. One cannot truly experience the festival while driving down the street in a car; parking your vehicle and walking down the street allows for immersion in the jovial atmosphere and offers a chance to notice the smaller stores and merchants downtown.
IceFest centers around ice sculptures that line the streets of the Chambersburg square.
Carvers will use anywhere from one to 14 blocks of ice that are 40 inches tall, 10 inches thick and 10 inches wide to create their masterpieces. The sculptures are divided into two categories— single-block and giant. Single-block sculptures are comprised of a single block of ice, while giant sculptures generally use five to 14 blocks. All of the ice sculptures are sponsored by businesses or citizens, and prices range from several hundred dollars to thousands, depending on the size and complexity of the design. As of press time, the IceFest committee has orders for 32 single-block sculptures, and is expecting another 20 orders by the end of 2008. The IceFest committee is also expecting to receive about six orders for giant sculptures.
All of the sculptures are carved by teams of carvers from DiMartino Ice of Jeanette, Pennsylvania. The single-block sculptures are carved prior to the festival, then stored in the company’s industrial-sized freezers. A few days before the festival, DiMartino Ice will truck in the finished single-block sculptures, along with the uncarved blocks of ice to create the giant sculptures. The sculptures and the uncarved blocks will be arranged on the sidewalks of North and South Main Street around the fountain.
All of the giant sculptures will be carved during IceFest, allowing spectators to witness their creation. Roughly half of the giant sculptures will be carved between 5 and 9 p.m. Thursday night, and the other half will be completed between 5 and 9 p.m. Friday night. The uncarved blocks arrive in their natural, opaque-white color directly from a freezer. After positioning the blocks, carvers will drizzle hot water over the cracks of the stacked blocks to ensure that they will adhere together properly. Carving with chainsaws and chisels achieves the desired effect. When the design is finished, carvers will apply a torch to the surface of the ice sculpture, erasing the opaque-white color and leaving the sculpture looking like a piece of clear glass.
The sculptures will remain on the sidewalks of Main Street until they deteriorate, weather permitting. “Weather is a major factor in the success of the IceFest,” Cullinane says. “Temperatures above 40 degrees encourage substantial melting; however, we typically see some melting wear on the sculptures by Sunday night.”
IceFest’s signature sculpture is a giant throne—usually constructed out of 11 blocks of ice. “This year’s IceFest theme is ‘Winter Wonderland,’ so you can expect to see sculptures of penguins, Eskimos and other wintry characters,” Cullinane says. Past giant sculptures have included a sleigh and train engine. “This festival is definitely a family event,” says Carmack. “Kids can touch the sculptures, and even sit on the throne.”
IceFest also offers a host of other events and activities. Boy Scouts will host their annual Klondike Derby, a smaller version of the famous Iditarod dogsled race. A dogsled team will bring the flag through the streets and deliver it to the mayor to officially kick off IceFest on Thursday. Dancers with the Chambersburg Ballet Theatre Company will perform The Firebird with special guest artists at the Capitol Theatre Friday and Saturday nights. The IceFest celebration will also sponsor a 12-minute fireworks display this year at 6:30 p.m. Friday night.
After the fireworks, lace up your dancing shoes and head over to the fellowship hall of the Central Presbyterian Church on Memorial Square for ballroom dancing from 7 to 10 p.m. “We’re also trying to put together a ‘Dancing with the Local Stars’ competition,” Shaul says. “We plan on pairing local celebrities with dancers for this live event.”
On Saturday, January 31, IceFest will heat up with the annual Chili Cookoff in the fellowship hall of the Central Presbyterian Church on Memorial Square. While there is an entry fee to the cookoff, attendees may sample—and vote for their favorite—chili. If the Chili Cookoff isn’t enough to warm you up, a hot pepper eating contest will immediately follow the cookoff.
Throughout IceFest, keep an eye open for free cups of hot chocolate, hot cider and cotton candy offered by local businesses both inside shops and out on the streets.
If you are looking for a unique weekend adventure, stop by the Chambersburg IceFest for an experience that the whole family will enjoy.