Plymouth Ice Festival Returns This Weekend

PLYMOUTH, MI – Known for its longevity, the three-day Plymouth Ice Festival has become a signature event for Plymouth with more than 100 ice sculptures, cross-country skiing, live entertainment and an ice playscape.

The festival, which returns for the 34th year Jan. 8-10 in Kellogg Park, is billed as the oldest, continually operating festival in America.

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“The most impressive thing about Plymouth is the longevity,” veteran sculptor Aaron Costic told The Plymouth Observer. “There are very few festivals of any kind that go 30 years.”

Costic,who lives in Broadview Heights, OH, who has carved ice at the festival off and on since 1990 both as an amatuer and now professionally for his Elegant Ice Creations, is responsible for many of the major sculptures that have made the Plymouth Ice Festival a must-attend event.

“It really has turned from just bringing people downtown to part of what makes the community so unique,” said organizer James Gietzen of JAG Entertainment.

If the weather doesn’t cooperate with snow, festival organizers will start making it, Gietzen said.

Ford Motor Co. is a major sponsor for the event, and an ice sculpture of the automaker’s GT sports car will be the largest in the show. Visitors will have an opportunity to make a donation to Gleaners Community Food Bank via text message, and the Ford Motor Co. Fund will match each donation.

Sun & Snow Sports and Blue Care Network are sponsors of the cross-country ski course.

If You Go

What: Plymouth Ice Festival | Where: Kellogg Park, 298 S Main St. | When: 3-10 p.m. Friday, Jan. 8; 10 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 9, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 10 | More information: plymouthicefestival.com.

» Patch file photo