Warmer weather puts freeze on Minnesota’s outdoor winter events

Carole Burkett, Pioneer Press
·6 min read

Minnesota is the land of what seems like 10,000 ice and winter festivals, but this year, the ice ain’t so nice. In addition to the cancellation of the John Beargrease Sled Dog marathon and the Minnesota Ice Festival, many outdoor January events and festivals across the state have had to delay or adapt because of a historically warm and snow-free winter.

Here’s a roundup of January events that are adapting to an ever-changing climate.

Sandstone Ice Fest, Jan. 12-14

On a regular year, Sandstone Ice Fest, an ice climbing event, typically runs the first weekend of January. The reason for the 2024 adjustment was not due to warm winter conditions, said organizer Susan Hill, but so that “we could have all of our representation from our BIPOC communities.”

Hill said that weekend is All In Ice Fest in Colorado, an event for ice climbers from historically marginalized communities.

The late start, however, has been a boon for the Sandstone Ice Fest, as Hill said ice farming was already a month behind typical years.

“We’re able to have really beautiful robust fat ice usually by Dec. 1 or the second week in December,” Hill said.

Fat ice is about two feet thick and optimal temperatures for ice farming are in the teens and single digits.

“Right now, we have a pretty good base and with the temperatures plummeting, I’m foreseeing a lighter year than last year, unfortunately,” Hill said, “but I think we can make some pretty good ice for the fest.”

Art Shanty Projects, Lake Harriet: Jan. 20 – Feb. 11

Last weekend, Art Shanty Projects art director Erin Lavelle punched her fist through a thin layer of ice on Lake Harriet, the site of the Art Shanty Projects. It was about half an inch thick and must be at least 10 inches to build the pop-up art village on the frozen lake.

“We are now patiently waiting for the ice to build up,” Lavelle said. “Right now, it’s really borderline — it could happen or not.”

This is the event’s 20th anniversary year and the art shanties team has adopted an ice prediction building chart where they can plug in high and low temps.

Construction on shanties is set to start Jan. 13, so event organizers will decide by Jan. 12 if there is enough ice to build upon or if they must relocate the event to the shore, like last year, which was called “Plan Beach.”

Although in 2023, Lavelle said, the event faced a different weather obstacle.

“Last year the ice was fine until there was that freak snowstorm and it insulated and melted the ice,” she said. “I think we’re moving into a period where we’ll have less predictable weather in the winter.”

Organizers also may delay the opening until Jan. 27 if the ice is growing too slowly.

Lavelle said the Art Shanty Projects revised its mission statement in 2021 to address climate change. It now states, “Art Shanty Projects intentionally creates an impermanent art village on Minnesota lake ice amid changing climate and environment.”

Spicer Winterfest, Jan. 20 – Feb. 11

Some of the earlier events of the 39th annual Spicer WinterFest have been canceled due to warmer conditions including the Central Minnesota Pond Racing event and the Spicer Speed Run and Oval Race, both of which were scheduled for Jan. 20.

Other ongoing events include a Frozen 5K, a polar plunge, Scandinavian kicksledding, fireworks and a beach bonfire.

“No other decision regarding changes or cancellations have been finalized yet,” said Beth Fischer, the executive director of the Willmar Lakes Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. The WinterFest committee is meeting next week to decide on any other changes or cancellations.

World Snow Sculpting Championship, Stillwater: Jan. 17-21

So far, the warm winter and lack of snow have not affected operations for the World Snow Sculpting Championship in Stillwater.

“We actually don’t need the snow, if you will, from Mother Nature to make the sculptures,” said Robin Anthony, president of the Greater Stillwater Chamber of Commerce, which runs the event. “We actually make ‘clean snow.’”

Anthony said a team from Afton Alps has brought its snow gun and have already begun making snow in the Lowell Park parking lot in downtown Stillwater. Snowmaking is optimal when temps are in the teens.

“They hook up a hose to the fire hydrant downtown and they just blow it when it gets cold enough to do,” Anthony said. “At some point, a very large parking lot will look like a big whale.”

Ice Castles, Maple Grove: Delayed opening

The Ice Castle in Maple Grove is one of six frosty structures built nationwide by the Utah-based Ice Castles company, including sites in Wisconsin, Colorado, Utah, New Hampshire and New York. Ice Castles founder Brent Christensen said the weather has been “weird” at all the sites, but usually Minnesota is a more reliable site for cold.

This year, however, the attraction opening has been pushed back more than a month after a first attempt at building the ice castle — which often reaches 30-feet high — was stymied by high temperatures in early December.

“We had it like six, eight feet tall in some spots. Then it completely melted down to the dirt,” said Christensen, who is based in Alpine, Utah. “So we’re kind of starting over, which is fine, but it’s definitely pushed us back.”

“It’s a little weird, a bit of an unpredictable year,” Christensen said, “which unfortunately we’re seeing more and more of that.”

He said that in ideal temperatures, they can build two feet of vertical castle ice a day. He predicts that the site will be ready by the end of January and will stay up through February.

Ice Palace Minnesota, Delano: Jan. 25

The Ice Palace Minnesota at Delano Central Park was originally set to open Dec. 22. However, the 90,000-square foot structure requires several weeks of temperatures below freezing to grow ice.

“Last year, we were able to start building in November,” said Anna Smith, the general manager for the Idaho-based Ice Palaces company. This year, construction didn’t begin until late December. The entire process takes about three weeks, but Smith said the Ice Palaces team will continue to grow the structure after it opens.

In 2023, the site opened Dec. 27 and brought in 45,000 visitors over its duration.

“We had a really tough conversation about whether or not we needed to move forward this year, but we decided to go ahead,” Smith said.

Ice Palace Minnesota will stay up until the end of February.

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