EAGAN, Minn. — The Minnesota Ice Festival had high hopes for 2024 that included building what they believed would break the record for largest ice maze in the world.
Unfortunately, December had other ideas.
On Wednesday, Minnesota Ice CEO Robbie Harrell announced that the winter celebration, which was supposed to start on Jan. 5 at Viking Lakes in Eagan, has been canceled, blaming the unseasonable start to winter. It goes without saying that temperatures in the 40s and 50s is not ideal for ice-making.
“We were really looking forward to celebrating the beautiful Minnesota winter with everyone, but the weather hasn’t cooperated, and we won’t be able to deliver the experience we had hoped for,” said Harrell in a released statement. “There are safety concerns we have to take into account when building structures with ice and snow, and ensuring the safety of these structures is our top priority."
Harrell added that it’s important for those attending events featuring large ice or snow structures to exercise caution as warmer temperatures can affect the stability of these structures, creating potential hazards.
"There's over 150 people that were going to be working at the event, constructing the event. We've got to cancel a lot of flights, hotels, a lot of construction... it was a really tough call," Harrell told KARE 11 on Thursday.
Besides the ice maze, Minnesota Ice had plans to bring in ice sculptors, host food trucks and create an ice slide.
10 days worth of work had already been done to protect the turf the Vikings practice on and they had been making ice for months. According to Harrell, the festival takes three to four weeks just to construct.
People who have purchased tickets and gift cards for the Minnesota Ice Festival will receive automatic refunds. Harrell says refunds should come within 7-10 days but processing times may vary among different banking institutions.
A large amount of ice has already been delivered to the festival site. Organizers say it's under a blanket of insulation to keep it from melting, and they hope it can be used in a winter celebration of some sort later this winter when things cool down.
Meanwhile, The Ice Palace Minnesota is at a standstill as crews wait for temperatures to cool down. The winter attraction, which started in Idaho, is in its second year in Minnesota. This year, it's in a new location at Delano Central Park.
"We actually have a patented process that we use and we build a skeletal structure out of ice and then we have sprinklers that start spraying the ice. Once we turn those sprinklers on, they stay on all winter long and they continue to grow and expand," explained Anna Smith, general manager of The Ice Palace Minnesota.
Last year, ice-making started the second week of November. This year, everything is brown.
"We started setting up a week before Thanksgiving, anticipating the temperatures to accommodate growing ice but as of right now, we are still waiting," Smith said. "It's discouraging. We had a lot of hopes to be a lot further along and actually our original date, we were hoping to be opening this week."
While Smith said it will be a shorter season, they do not anticipate having to cancel the event. Last year, attendance reached nearly 50,000, with an opening date of Dec. 27. Smith said they are hopeful they will be able to open by mid-January and run through the end of February.
"Early on, those type of temperatures could compromise the integrity of the ice and so that is why we haven't tried to start building yet because of these temps," Smith said. "But once we get a more substantial structure, we can handle a couple of warm days without it being catastrophic."
Once we have cooler temperatures, work will happen around the clock for two weeks.
Smith said, "We know that... Mother Nature is who sets the stage for what we do here."
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