The Heat Is On For First Salem Frozen Fire Festival

SALEM, MA — Fire and ice are proving the perfect mix for a New Year's countdown — despite some slow going amid last week's flooding rain — in the Witch City.

Three days into the first Salem Frozen Fire Festival crowds have flocked to Charlotte Forten Park for an array of winter activities and blazing-hot entertainment.

World foot fire archer specialist Orissa Kelly is set to headline the festival on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as she brings her "Queen of Archery" talents all the way from London to the North Shore of Massachusetts.

"After overcoming some challenges of last Friday's storm and flood we have hit our stride," Chris Sinclair, president of The Anthem Group that brought the festival to Salem, told Patch. "The live daily music kicked off (Tuesday) night and continues throughout the week. Ice sculptures will arrive on Friday and fire performances will begin on Friday as well."

The event at 289 Derby Street includes heated igloos, fire pits, two Olympic-style curling rinks, ice sculptures, live music and performances, as well as food trucks and an outdoor bar.

Sinclair told Patch that much of the setup had to be rebuilt over the Christmas weekend following high winds and flooding rain last Friday that "nearly carried the curling rink out to sea" before two Salem residents helped "beach it on Derby Street."

While rising temperatures over the weekend — as well as rain forecast for New Year's Eve night — threaten to pose a bit of a melting moment for the sculptures, the expectation is that the ice will hold up through at least much of the weekend.

"Fingers crossed," Sinclair said of the giant interactive ice picture frame and throne set to arrive on Friday.

"We have a lot of family and children's groups coming through over the next two days to celebrate their school vacation, which is really great to see people of all ages using the space," he said.

Sinclair told Patch about 1,000 people combined came to the event in its first two days with more expected this week. With most of the space free to come and go, he said there have been many visitors who "came for a drink at 4, went out to dinner, then came back at 7."

"It is really nice to see the space used in a positive way and used in a way it was meant to be used," he said. "You can stay for five hours, 50 minutes, or five minutes. It was built for that."

He said The Anthem Group chose Salem, in part, for the festival because of the city's "culture of celebration."

"This is a community that is already highly engaged," he said. "It has been a pleasure working with the city and its neighbors. The experience makes you want to do more things like this in Salem."

There are outdoor heat lamps and complimentary cozy fleece blankets to go with the fire pits and igloos to keep warm, along with pop-up shops, a S'mores and Hot Chocolate Garden and The Polar Bar featuring local and international brews along with a large wine selection.

There are more than 30 live performances scheduled, including fire and acrobatic performances, and live ice carving and painting exhibitions. Curling will be open and free to the public as will the 20 fire pits.

The Frozen Fire Festival will be open from 4 p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 4 p.m. to midnight on Friday, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)