Ice Fest: A Small Winter Wonderland in Chambersburg

As the winter blues slowly kicked in, patrons around the area gathered to celebrate the 15th Annual Ice Festival in downtown Chambersburg. This year’s Ice Fest took place Jan. 25 to 28.

IceFest was formed by a large group of volunteers who work together to bring ice sculpture displays and different activities to the local community. Ice Fest has grown to be the biggest outdoor ice festival in Pennsylvania.

Thanks to the M&T Bank’s sponsorship, this year’s Ice Fest had more than 20 events happening during the four-day festival. Some of the outstanding events included the ribbon-cutting ceremony, pancake breakfast, the Chili Cookoff, Icing on the Cake and the Snowball Fall dance.

Aside from the traditional double-wide ice slide, a brand new obstacle course was also opened for young children in the Kid’s Area on Sunday. Food vendors with pretzels, French fries, hot dogs and funnel cakes were busy as people lined up, waiting for delicious food. Especially new this year, Main Street was closed on
Saturday, Jan. 28 during the day. Pedestrians had more room to safely walk and view all the ice sculptures on the sidewalks.

“My family and I came down here to Chambersburg every year to attend Ice Fest. No matter how cold it is, my kids will always pull me out of the house just so that they can come and sit on the giant ice throne,” said Kathy Norman from Greencastle.

Certainly, what is an Ice Fest without any ice? There were more than 70 professional ice sculptures carved by DiMartino Ice with the sponsorships from the Main Street Deli/Valley Agency Company, the Main Street Tax Service, ManorCare Health Services and many more local businesses. Each ice sculpture took the form of different objects, varying from starfish to a  a rocket ship, diamond ring and train. Some of them had a little extra touch with colorful lights during the night.

Wilson College students also took time off schoolwork to attend this festival. For the students, one of the must-do activities was to take a photo with the Wilson College ice display. Christina Sturgeon ’17 shared, “I had so much fun! This is like a small town’s winter wonderland! The kettle corn was exceptionally amazing as well!”

For more details about all the exciting events during Ice Fest, visit www.IceFestPA.com.