Sturgeon Bay Community ignites in festive spirit as the annual “Fire & Ice Weekend,” transforms the town February 12 – 14.
Ice sculpture contest brings talented artists from together from near and far.
Saturday is filled with “cool” activities that include both ice and snow carving. A city-wide competitive ice-carving event gives spectators a chance to watch as local ice artists, along with professional carvers transform large and small ice blocks into masterpieces.
The professional level of carvers have won awards from competitions spanning the globe including honors at the Winter Olympics in Italy, Japan and Norway as well as in ice-carving US Nationals and the Wisconsin State championships.
This year in the competitive snow-carving events, most of the snow blocks will be carved at Sawyer Park with additional small snow forms provided there to encourage budding artists to try out their snow-carving skills.
Carvers will officially begin the process of turning blocks of snow and ice into art, starting at 9 am on Saturday. Members of the Pioneer Fire Department will be on duty at Sawyer Park, serving up brats and burgers. It’s easy to get all around the town thanks to the free Door County Trolley, available from 11:30 am until 2:30 pm.
At 2 pm the final judging of the finished ice carving gets underway with an awards ceremony scheduled for 3 pm at the Sturgeon Bay Visitor Center. The public is also encouraged to join in the selection process by casting votes for the People’s Choice Awards.
Saturday night the annual “Fire & Ice” Dinner, Dance and Silent Auction takes place at Stone Harbor Resort hosted jointly with the Sturgeon Bay Visitor Center. Enjoy a fabulous meal followed by excellent sounds of “Streetlife,” the award-winning Milwaukee Bucks house band. Warren Wiegratz leads the ensemble in performing a hot mix of R&B, smooth jazz and contemporary favorites. Tickets for this fantastic evening are $60 each.
2009 Ice carving on 3rd Avenue
Event maps provide a complete plan of where all the ice and snow blocks are situated. The city is peppered with locations that include most of businesses throughout area. You can get a copy at the Sturgeon Bay Visitor Center office at 36 S. 3rd Avenue, right next door to the Ladder House or at member businesses. throughout town.
Additional information about Fire & Ice and other special events is available online at the Sturgeon Bay Visitor Center Website or by calling 800.301.6695 or 920.743.6246. Hours are Monday – Friday, 9 am -5 pm and Saturdays from 10 am – 2 pm.
