By Holly Kline
The first Fishers Ice Festival was held Jan. 11 near Nickel Plate Amphitheater; this free event was enjoyable and well-attended. Spectators were treated to a wide variety of professional ice sculptures.
“We had 15 precarved ice sculptures and three that were carved on site,” said Tony Elliot, Fishers director of parks and recreation. “For the inaugural event, we thought the Ice Festival was truly a success.”
Ice sculptures were arranged in a large circle in front of the amphitheater. Attendees could walk along the concrete path to view the sculptures as well as stop to study their favorites.
The icy works of art included an intricate sea horse, a majestic lion, a tropical fish, an elephant, a stern bulldog, a wolf braying at the moon and the much-talked-about Duke Energy disco man.
Sheri Miller attended the Ice Festival with her daughter Anna. “This is our favorite one,” Sheri said, and pointed at the frosty disco dancer. She added that they were enjoying viewing all the sculptures.
Elliot reported that 1,500 to 2,000 people attended the festival. “The event wouldn’t have been such a success without our 14 ice sculpture sponsors and numerous volunteers,” he said. “We had great support from our partners at the Fishers Public Library, Fishers Police and Fire Departments, Earth Fare and Sun King Brewing.”
Other activities were available; Serendipity Mobile Catering was parked nearby and Sun King had an adults-only beverage area. There was also a popular kids’ activity tent. Children could do crafts, play an ice-fishing game and build banana snowmen. Indiana Ice Studio, Inc. demonstrated how to carve a thick block of ice with a small chainsaw.
Elliot said the Fishers Ice Festival will be an annual event. “January is typically a time of year when outdoor events are few and far between, so we see the ice festival as a unique chance to get outdoors, break cabin fever and check out some incredible sculptures,” he said. “We are already planning how to grow and improve this event for January 2015.”
