Michelangelos of Ice and Snow
It was a cold, sunny January day when my boyfriend Tim and I loaded up the car for a two and a half hour drive from Milwaukee to Wisconsin Dells. The destination was the annual Flake Out Festival in Lake Delton, a celebration of winter in Wisconsin. A sizable crowd flocked to watch the ice carving competition, occasionally ducking into the tents to warm up and escape the minus 20 degree windchill.
The festival featured crafts by local artisans, sledding and skating, and an impressive maze built from ice blocks. Inside the warming tents, vendors sold tantalizing slices of pizza, boot-shaped glasses filled with beer and hot chocolate mixed with a creamy dash of McGillicuddy’s liquor as a band played classic rock from a corner stage.
The main event was the ice sculpture competition taking place during the entire weekend-long festival. I wandered past rows of artists hard at work, marveling at the impressive displays of creativity, technical skill and ability to liberate graceful forms from the solid blocks placed in front of them. Not to mention the bravery in the face of biting cold.
As the sun set on the day, hollowed ice globes lit the path with votive candles while festival goers huddled around a roaring bonfire. As night set in and the temperature continued its steady downward plummet, only the most dedicated ice artisans continued to steadily chip away at the blocks of ice, slowly and patiently revealing the masterpieces within.
View the Flake Out Festival set on Flickr.com
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