Tompkins Weekly

Annual Ice Festival, Chowder Cook-off return this weekend


Tompkins Weekly Staff

Tompkins Weekly Staff

ITHACA – The annual cold weather tradition returns to Ithaca’s Commons this weekend – the Ice Festival and Chowder Cook-off.
The Ithaca Ice Festival carving competition is a National Ice Carving Association sanctioned event, with the nation’s top ice carvers competing for $9,000 in prizes during three rounds of competition.

Events will span Thursday, December 8, through Saturday, December 10, with myriad events for all ages. The opening of Ice Bar – made entirely of ice – will kick off festivities, serving beer, wine and hot cocoa from 5-9 p.m. on Thursday, December 8. There also will be performances from Nate the Great (6:30-7:15 p.m.) and Cosmic Karma Fire Dance (7:30-8:30 p.m.)
On Friday, December 9, the official opening of the Festival will commence with the speed carving competition, where each participant will have approximately 20 minutes to create a complete ice sculpture. The Ice Bar will again be open from 5-9 p.m.
It will be a full day of activities on Saturday, December 10, with the Carve and Deliver competition starting things off from 9 a.m. to noon. Competing carvers must carve and deliver an ice sculpture to a downtown Ithaca location within a three-hour time period.
The final round of the ice carving competition is the Two-Block Showpiece Challenge from 2-6 p.m. Competitors will have four hours to produce a sculptures using two large blocks of ice.
The Ice Bar also will be open from noon to 6 p.m.
The counterpoint to the cold of the Ice Festival will be the creations whipped up for the 7th annual Chowder Cook-off, which will take place from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday, December 10; this event will take place on the Commons and surrounding streets, including Aurora and Cayuga, and the Dewitt Mall. People will have the opportunity to sample more than 20 different traditional, exotic and gourmet chowders from local restaurants competing for the Chowder Cup championship.
Sampling tickets are available for sale in advance and will be available the day of the event in downtown Ithaca.
For more information about these events, visit the Downtown Ithaca website at www.downtownithaca.com or visit its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/downtownithaca.

 

 

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