By James Windell
The weather may be frigid, but the city of South Haven will heat up with it’s annual Ice Breaker Festival.
Taking over downtown South Haven from Friday, January 31 through Sunday, February 2, Ice Breaker will feature a dazzling array of events including ice sculptures, a chili cook-off, cardboard sled races, a pub slide, outdoor ice skating, horse drawn wagon rides, s’mores roasting and much more.
“It’s going on all week, but it really kicks off at 7:00 pm on Friday, December 21 at the Snowsuit Fashion Contest at the South Haven Brewpub,” says Olivia Thompson, Assistant Di-rector of the South Haven Area Chamber of Commerce. “There are prizes for best snowsuit cos-tumes and it’s free to enter.”
One of the highlights of this annual event is the sculpting of more than 30 blocks of ice, weighing 300 to 600 pounds each. Each block will be transformed into an incredible work of frozen art. The Ice Sculpting competition has two divisions – professional and amateur – and the carving gets underway at 7:00 am on Saturday, Feb. 1. Judging of the best ice sculptures will begin at 1:00 pm on Saturday.
“The Chili Cook-Off is one of the most popular events,” says Thompson, “and it starts at noon on Saturday throughout the downtown area. That lasts until 3:00 pm and there are free tastes so you can vote on your favorite chili.”
Visitors will be tempted with delicious chili creations from 23 participants, and votes will decide whose chili will win the trophy! Trophies for the chili cookoff and ice carving competition will be awarded during the champions of ice awards reception on Saturday evening.
Thompson says that throughout the downtown area there will be events including music and dancing. “There’s a silent disco downtown presented by SERVPRO of South Haven,” she says. “From 11:00 am to 12:00 pm on Saturday, the music will be for kids. Then from 1:00 pm to 6:00 pm it will be adults Silent Disco.”
Trixy Tang, voted the #1 Best Cover Band in the West Michigan Revue Magazine 2024 Readers Poll, will take the stage from noon until 3:30 pm on Saturday.
The Pub Slide, with food, drink, and entertainment specials will be offered at participating bars and restaurants, and will take place all weekend long.
“A fun event will be the cardboard sled race starting at 1:00 pm on Saturday,” Thompson says. “Make your own sled with cardboard and duct tape and enter the team event to show off your cardboard sled.” The race will take place at 3:30 pm at the Lakehouse Keeper’s House Sledding Hill at 91 Michigan Ave.
Thompson says that a trolley will be available to shuttle you around during the festival. In addition, there are horse-drawn carriage rides. And she adds: “The whole event is family friendly. It will be a great time for all ages.”
For more details and schedules, visit the website: //www.southhavenmi.com/pages/IceBreaker
