Sturgeon Bay is full of cool activities centered around the city’s hottest annual event, a snow and ice-carving challenge taken up by local sculptors and professional carvers alike.
On streets all over both sides of the city you can watch ice carvers and snow sculptors use chain saws, chisels, and their imagination to transform large and small blocks of ice and snow into elegant masterpieces, starting at 9 am on Saturday. 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.
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 sixteen finished sculptures are awarded cash prizes in three categories: Beginner, Intermediate, and Advanced. The public is also invited to vote for their favorite carving in the People’s Choice Award.
The Visitor Center encourages you to, “Make Door County’s Fire & Ice weekend a treasured annual tradition. There’s so much to experience in Sturgeon Bay, whether you are watching the ice carving competition, gazing at the frozen harbor full of enormous Great Lakes freighters, strolling down streets full of eclectic shops and cozy restaurants, enjoying the welcoming warmth of a hot drink or dancing the night away in Sturgeon Bay.”
Event maps with ice and snow block locations will be available at most businesses throughout the weekend or at the Sturgeon Bay Visitor Center office, located at 36 S. 3rd Avenue.
Songs of Love… and love gone away
Stephen Cooper, Steve Hamilton and Ruby James at the Holiday Music Motel
Meanwhile, all week long, songwriters from around the nation have been hard at work at the Holiday Music Motel and Recording Studio, spending the week writing and recording new material themed for the 2nd annual Valentine’s Day holiday, ”Songs of Love… and love gone away.” Much like the Steel Bridge Songfest, but on a smaller scale, writers have come from near and far to Sturgeon Bay for a collaborative songwriting event that began on February 10. On Friday, February 15, they take their new songs (and songs from last year) to the Red Room for a nighttime performance starting at 9 pm. This portion of the event is free and open to the public. You can check up on their daily progress at the Holiday Music Motel’s Facebook page.
On Saturday evening, Sturgeon Bay Visitor Center and Stone Harbor Resort host the annual Fire & Ice Dinner Dance. Enjoy a fabulous meal and a silent auction, followed by the amazing sounds of hits from the 1950’s onward brought to life by Little Vito and the Torpedoes. Tickets to the dinner dance and additional information about Fire & Ice and other special events is available by calling the Sturgeon Bay Visitor Center at 800.301.6695 or 920.743.6246 or by visiting www.SturgeonBay.net.
Track the Historic Third Avenue fun on Facebook.
