Boston's Famed Frog Pond Ice Skating Venue Delays Season Opening

BOSTON, MA — While New Englanders have made a tradition of ice skating at the region’s oldest and beloved skating rink, they will have to adjust to a changes at Boston’s Frog Pond.

The Skating Club of Boston announced that the traditional venue at Frog Pond is in need of maintenance, which will require the site to use a temporary rink for the upcoming season, organizers said Wednesday.

USA Today ranked Frog Island as the nation’s top ice-skating rink but with the maintenance needing to take place during the off-season, skaters will need to make the most of the temporary rink.

The delay in opening has forced the cancellation of Frog Island’s annual Tree Lighting Skating Spectacular, which was to have taken place on Thursday evening. The event was to have been headlined for former U.S. champion Max Aaron, who will instead performing at the Skating Club of Boston’s Night of Stars event on Saturday, organizers said.

“The temporary rink will be similar to the pop-up rinks that are now around Boston and it will still provide a great skating experience for the public,” said Doug Zeghibe, executive director of The Skating Club of Boston, which manages the Frog Pond. “Skaters will have a great surface, holiday lights and the beautiful backdrop of the Boston Common to enjoy. It will still be an incomparable experience.”

The temporary rink is scheduled to open next week, organizers said. Skaters are encouraged to visit the Frog Pond website for updates.

“We’re disappointed that we couldn’t have the traditional rink back this year after being closed last year due to the pandemic, but we are committed to bring Bostonians the skating experience they love in historic Boston Common as soon as we can,” Zeghibe said.