The 2023 Cripple Creek Ice Festival

The Cripple Creek Ice Festival is an annual tradition, but for the past two years it has been canceled due to Covid. So, when I heard that they were holding the Ice Fest this year, you can bet that I made sure to attend. The Ice Festival is open to the public and admission is free. Ice sculptures are lined up and down Bennett Street, along with street vendors, who provide plenty of food and refreshments for all. Visitors walk up or down the street, appraising the sculptures and stop in at the main tent to place their votes for the sculpture they think is best. Past year’s themes include Under the Sea, Mythological Wonderland, Old West, Mountain Wonderland, and Story Time. The first year that I attended was 2015, with the Story Time theme. I also had the pleasure of attending in 2016 with the Old West theme. You can see those ice sculptures here.

This year, the shape each sculpture took was the carver’s choice, so there was a wide variety of sculptures. For the 2023 Cripple Creek Ice Festival, (February 18-26), I attended on both the first Sunday and the final Sunday. On Day 2 of the festivities, only select sculptures were complete, as the chisel and chain saw weilding ice carvers work on their masterpieces all week long, so visitors are sure to catch them in action. Many large blocks of uncut ice lined the street, waiting for the carver’sto work their magic and turn them into spectacular works of art.

Even on the final day, there were still carvers demonstrating their talents. The way they carve the ice and shape it into their own visions is amazing.

Through their talented efforts, for two weeks out of the year, Bennett Street in Cripple Creek turns into a fabulously creative winter wonderland. Since the theme was carver’s choice, the sculptures took on a wide variety of shapes and sizes.

Although beautiful during the day, the addition of color lighting them up at night has unique effects.

References

What You Need to Know About the Cripple Creek Ice Festival. Pike’s Peak Region Attractions. Retrieved from https://www.pikes-peak.com/cripple-creek-ice-festival/

About the Author

For Kaye Lynne Booth, writing is a passion. Kaye Lynne is an author with published short fiction and poetry, both online and in print, including her short story collection, Last Call and Other Short Fiction; and her paranormal mystery novella, Hidden Secrets. Kaye holds a dual M.F.A. degree in Creative Writing with emphasis in genre fiction and screenwriting, and an M.A. in publishing. Kaye Lynne is the founder of WordCrafter Quality Writing & Author Services and WordCrafter Press. She also maintains an authors’ blog and website, Writing to be Read, where she publishes content of interest in the literary world.

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