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The snow blocks are up, the carvers will be here soon, and storefronts are set to be filled with art.
Those are just some of the signs that it’s time for Ely’s annual winter celebration.
The 32nd Ely Winter Festival began Thursday, runs through Feb. 16 and packs a season’s worth of fun and activities in less than two weeks.
Despite some recent mild temperatures and less snow than usual for this time of year, there’s more snow for this year’s event than there was in 2024 and enthusiasm remains high for the festival.
As usual, snow carving serves as a centerpiece of the festival and artists are beginning their work on snow forms up both at Whiteside Park and elsewhere in Ely, signaling the start of the annual snow sculpting symposium.
By the weekend, the snow forms will have been transformed, and the park in particular serves as an attraction with numerous sculptures serving as a draw.
Numerous other events are in the works including the Ely ArtWalk, skating and kick sledding at Whiteside Park, snowshoe hikes with the Listening Point Foundation and numerous classes put on by the Ely Folk School.
Friday, Feb. 7 marks the start of the winter party, with a spaghetti feed to support Ely Community Resource, starting at 4 p.m. and to be held at St. Anthony’s Catholic Church, followed by the opening ceremonies and passing of the winter festival torch in an event set for 6 p.m. at Whiteside Park.
The festival’s opening weekend also includes the return of a popular Ely event, with the Great Nordic Beardfest, to be held both Friday and Saturday at Ely’s Historic State Theater.
A full schedule and further information can be found online at www.elywinterfestival. com.
Started in the 1990s as an offshoot of a cross country ski race that was held locally, the Ely Winter Festival soon took on a life of its own and has become a focal point of winter in town.
The snow sculptures usually serve as an attraction, bringing local residents out of their home and visitors to town as Whiteside Park fills with the snow sculptors and their works of art. Sculpting teams generally come from around the state and beyond. The symposium begins Thursday and the sculptures will remain in the park through the festival and weeks beyond.
The festival kickoff, in part set for Friday night, serves as a ceremonial beginning, and it’s one of many events to take place throughout the course of the opening weekend.
This year’s Ely ArtWalk, brings more than 400 pieces of art - by artists with direct ties to the Ely area - to the shops and windows of downtown businesses. The Art-Walk has become a staple of the winter festival and runs through the entire month of February.
The festival continues through the opening weekend all the way until Feb. 16, and the second week begins with a “History Night” with Carl Gawboy ad Rain Newcomb at Vermilion Community College, with a history happy hour following Feb. 12 at the Boathouse, with the program focusing on the history of snowmobiles.
The Boathouse will also welcome Lyric Opera of the North Feb. 12, with an opera cabaret on the brewpub’s top floor.
The following evening, Feb. 13, features a solo acoustic concert by Courtney Yasmineh at Northern Grounds. Yasmineh is a return performer.
The second weekend includes a Valentine’s Day concert by local artist Irene Hartfield, polka dancing at the Ely Folk School, a watercolor art demonstration, and the Ely Nordic Loppet and Candlelight Ski.
Northern Grounds serves as festival headquarters and festival pins - needed for admission to some events - may be purchased there. Cost is $7.
