Main Street Vermilion will host its 15th annual Ice-A-Fair at 11 a.m., Feb. 3, in the city’s historic downtown.
The community-wide ice festival will feature ice sculptures sponsored by local businesses and organizations.
Vermilion streets could be lined with 50 to 60 sculptures representing the different entities of the community, according to Kate Repola, executive director at Main Street Vermilion.
Main Street Vermilion partners with Elegant Ice Creations in Broadview Heights to provide and cut the sculptures, Repola said.
“We receive sponsorships from businesses and merchants, and they sponsor an ice sculpture,” she said. “The sponsor for the ice decides what deigns they would like it to be.”
Some choose a company logo, while others choose something more artistic, Repola said.
The event also will feature four live ice-sculpting demonstrations, a frozen slide, frozen play place, and train rides for youngsters, according to Repola.
“It’s family-friendly; we always have lots of activities for kids,” she said.
Guests are encouraged to start their experience in the Main Street Vermilion building, where they will receive information on where sculptures are located, as well as have the chance to enter a raffle for various prizes, according to Repola.
A winner will receive cold, hard cash in a block of ice filled with $1,000 worth of $100 dollar bills, she said.
“You can buy a raffle ticket to win that (ice block),” Repola said. “We also have Cavs tickets, Guardians tickets and free car washes for a year.”
Ice-A-Fair initially was created to engage the community in the winter, according to Repola, and to show that Vermilion, despite being a popular summer town, is open 12 months of the year.
“At Main Street Vermilion, we’re always looking for ways to bring people into our historic downtown,” she said. “That is at the heart of our mission at our nonprofit, and we noticed that there was a void of activities during the winter.
“We started this festival to bring folks downtown, and it’s really our biggest event of the year in the middle of the winter.”
The event will wrap up with a fire and ice finale at 6 p.m. in Exchange Park, 641 Main St.
“It’s a beautiful reason to get out, and it’s exciting to see these artists carve these beautiful designs out of ice,” Repola said. “They just sparkle in the sunshine.”
The sculptures are left on display until they melt, she said.
“Some years, they’re up for another week or two, and then some years, they only make it the day, depending on Mother Nature,” Repola said.
