Chilly weather over the weekend helped provide the ideal atmosphere for the Lake Metroparks Farmpark community event.
Kirtland-based Farm Park held its annual Ice Festival on the night of January 27th and January 28th from 9am to 5pm.
Visitors of all ages could sit on the ice throne, and young children took turns sliding down the ice slide.
Talented ice sculptors also created various sculptures and participated in speed carving competitions for spectators who gathered in and around the farm park pond pavilion.
At the 10:30am show on January 28, world champion ice carver Aaron Costic of Elegant Ice Creations took just 22 minutes to turn a block of ice into a mummy.
A display of finished ice sculptures, including unicorns and dragons, was also lined up for guests to admire and take pictures with on their mobile phones.
Farmpark originally began inviting ice carving artists at its annual Farmfest event in the summer.
“We thought it would be fun to make ice sculptures in mid-July, so we put[the ice sculptors]in the pavilion and there was a huge turnout for the sculptures,” says Andy, Farmpark Events Manager. McGovern said.
After seeing the audience reaction to its first show, Farmpark leaders began talking to officials in the city of Medina about the annual winter ice festival.
Ultimately, Lake Metroparks Farmpark decided to host its first ice festival in late January 2017.
“It started there and has grown over the years,” McGovern said. “It’s a fun, family-friendly event.”
Among the families who attended the 2023 Lake Metroparks Farmpark Ice Festival on January 28 were Gust, Paul and Laura, and their two children, Caleb, 4, and Adam, 7.
The Gasts drove from their home in Shagrin Falls to the farm park at 8800 Euclid Chardon Road.
Laura said she learned about the incident from Caleb’s kindergarten teacher.
“(Caleb and Adam) love the playground and haven’t been able to play on it for the last few weeks,” Laura said.
Laura said she was looking forward to seeing Caleb and Adam use the Farm Park’s indoor playground, but the boys had repeatedly slid down the ice slide set up outside the Farm Park’s visitor center.
Lora also said the family didn’t mind checking out the outdoor attractions at the Ice Festival in 30-degree weather.
“Snow is better than rain,” she said.
Brian and Nicole Hoglin from Orange Village were also enjoying the Ice Festival on January 28th. They brought along her two children, four-year-old Luke and her two-year-old Atom.
Brian said the ice festival was “wonderful”, and Luke and Atom said they thought it was “really cool” to watch the Kosticks carve mummies out of ice.
McGovern noted that ice festivals have ties to agriculture, as ice harvesting was big business before modern refrigeration technology.
“People went out onto frozen Lake Erie and cut blocks of ice,” he said.
