Ice, ice baby! Port Jefferson’s 5th annual Ice Festival is going to be really cool
Update: Because of the rain on Sunday, January 28, the second part of the Port Jefferson Ice Festival will be held on Sunday, February 4 from noon to 5 p.m.
By Julianne Mosher
Back by popular demand, the fifth Annual Ice Festival is heading back to the Village of Port Jefferson on January 27 and 28 from noon to 5 p.m.
Hosted by the Port Jefferson Business Improvement District (BID) in partnership with the Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce, the festival is a fan favorite that bring hundreds in to admire and pose alongside handcrafted ice sculptures created by Guinness Book World Record holder ice carver Rich Daly.
But that’s not all. According to Barbara Ransome, director of operations at the Port Jefferson Chamber, there will also be a new horse-drawn wagon available for rides (fee) and the now-sold-out Mac and Cheese Crawl.
Visitors can enjoy live music, performances by local Shine Dance Company, ice skating demos at the Rinx as well as character photo opportunities and interactive games (cornhole, bowling and tic tac toe) — made out of ice, of course.
Daly, who has been the star of the festival throughout its entire run, said that this year will be “bigger and better than ever.”
“We have about 200 blocks of ice ready for both days,” he said. “And while the ice is awesome, there are a lot of activities for families to do in Port Jeff, so it’s a great event.”
Daly said that on Saturday alone, there will be about 30 sculptures around town outside different Port Jeff shops. Sunday there will be another set ready to photograph with.
And these are not small statues. The famed interactive graffiti ice wall set up in the Frigate parking lot stands large enough for a whole family to pose with, but what’s most fun to watch are the live ice carvings done by Daly in the flesh.
On both days, there will be three live ice carvings starting at 12 p.m. at Mill Creek Road, 2 p.m. at the Meadow Parking Lot and 4 p.m. at Pocket Park. Each carving lasts at minimum an hour.
As founder of Ice Memories Inc. based out of Mastic, Daly is one of only eight certified master carvers in the U.S. Since starting Ice Memories in 2000, Daly has won over 200 ice carving competition titles and received the Guinness World Record for carving 60 ice sculptures in under three hours.
Compared to previous festivals which included Olaf from Frozen, a turtle and a lighthouse, “There will be new characters this year like Spider-Man and Barbie,” Daly said. However, this won’t be your typical doll-sized blonde fashionista.
“She’s going to be a big girl,” Daly laughed. “She’ll be about 6-feet-tall and start off at 2,400 lbs of ice.”
A rain date is set for Feb. 3 and 4. The event and parking are free for both days. For a full schedule and map of events, visit www.portjeffchamber.com. For further information, please call 631-473-1414.
