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Annual Port Jefferson Ice Festival

By Serena Carpino

Hundreds of patrons gathered in the village Sunday, Feb. 4, for the finale of the 5th annual Port Jefferson Ice Festival. The first part was held Saturday, Jan. 27.

The festival, organized by the Port Jefferson Business Improvement District and the Greater Port Jefferson Chamber of Commerce, had many activities, including live ice carvings, interactive games such as ice corn hole and ice mini golf, also horse and carriage rides. In addition, attendees could walk around and find ice sculptures purchased by local businesses. 

Retailers could purchase the sculptures for about $300, only half of what they cost to make. Many stores are in full support of the festival because of the business it attracts. 

“I’m totally in support, it brings people out certainly and this is a beautiful weekend,” said Mary Joy Pipe, the owner of East End Shirt Company. “People want something to do in the middle of winter and this is it. I mean, come out, be outside, bring your family and there’s a lot of activity a lot of things to do.”

Pipe explained that her business did not purchase a sculpture this year because of their proximity to businesses that did, but they have bought sculptures in the past. However, they did participate in a raffle that store customers “were able to engage in and we were happy to see them.”

Other business owners shared their love for the festival as well. “It’s a terrific event that brings a lot of happy people,” Sue Hoeffner, owner of Sea Creations, said. “Gets everybody out of the house in the cold weather. It’s such a perfect day, the sun is out. Everybody has a smile.”

Rich Daly doing a live carving on day one at the Port Jefferson Ice Festival. Photo by Julianne Mosher

By Julianne Mosher

The 5th annual Port Jefferson Ice Festival didn’t disappoint, yet again, with hundreds of people coming near and far to enjoy this winter wonderland. 

Spearheaded by the Port Jefferson Business Improvement District and partnering with the, the festival gives visitors and residents a bunch of fun activities great for all ages. 

The common denominator each year is the fantastic ice sculptures created by Rich Daly — owner and ice sculptor with Ice Memories, based in Mastic Beach. Daly said he spends three weeks preparing for the two-day-long festival, creating 30 ice statues to distribute around Port Jefferson. From dogs outside Skinmed Spa to a cheeseburger outside Tommy’s, there is quite the variety. For this festival alone, Daly said he carved 225 blocks of ice (that’s 70,000 pounds) slated for the weekend.

The festival began Saturday, Jan. 27, and was supposed to go into the Sunday. However, a rainy forecast postponed the second day until this coming Sunday, Feb. 4. While disappointing for some, people who missed the first day can now have another chance to enjoy the festivities. Some of those festivities include admiring Daly’s sculptures around town, character appearances — Spider-Man and Barbie were spotted — and horse and buggy rides. 

But the biggest crowd draw is the three live ice sculpture experiences by Daly occurring throughout the day. 

Daly became the world’s fastest ice carver, according to Guinness World Records, back in 2013. 

“I carved 18,000 pounds of ice into 61 different carvings in two hours and 52 minutes surpassing the old record by over an hour and a half,” he said. “So now we’re 11 years in, and it’s still my record, thankfully.”

Last Saturday, Daly stood with a 300-pound block of ice in the Meadow Parking Lot behind PJ Lobster House with nearly 100 people and children cheering him on. He took his ice pick, carved out a rough design of a dove and then started up his chainsaw to carve out the bird. In under 30 minutes, the bird was ready and admirers could be photographed with the new creation.

This year’s Port Jefferson Ice Festival will have its grand finale on Sunday, Feb. 4, featuring all-new ice designs throughout the village along with Daly’s live carvings. Parking is free.