Along with Alaska, Colorado is a popular destination for ice-sculpture festivals. It's also a more economical destination if you live in the continental United States. Some ice festivals in Colorado have been around for 20 years, while others have only started in the last two or three years. If you've already thought about traveling to Colorado for skiing, hiking and mountain climbing, there may be an ice festival that is conveniently located near your destination and would be well worth checking out.
The town of Cripple Creek, Colorado, hosts the annual Cripple Creek Ice Festival. This festival features kid-friendly ice sculptures such as mazes and an ice slide. Street vendors and nearby bars cater to the adult crowd. While there are quite a few ice festivals held in the United States, this is one of a handful that features ice sculptures carved with chainsaws. This festival takes place over two weekends, and visitors are encouraged to rent cabins nearby.
Breckinridge, Colorado, hosts an annual International Snow Sculpting Competition that is free to the public. The sculptures are done by four-person teams with a 65-hour time limit. Visitors who attend the competition can vote for their favorite sculpture, while the official awards are given to the top three teams by a panel of judges. This competition attracts teams from around the world, some from as far away as Australia and Scandinavia.
The Ice on the Avenue Ice Festival is a yearly event held in Bancroft Park in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Professional ice carvers from Colorado Ice Sculptures provide live sculpting, which sometimes includes interactive artwork such as ice chess and checkers. Nearly 20,000 people attended this festival in 2010, and a fundraiser was held where donations could be dropped into a box made out of ice.
The Alamosa Ice Festival takes place annually in the town of Alamosa, Colorado. It features live ice sculpturing, as well as other events such as ice skating and cross-country skiing. The ice sculptures are carved by local artists in the heart of downtown Alamosa, which is lined with numerous restaurants and shops to attract tourists. This festival began very recently, and the second annual Alamosa Ice Festival took place in January of 2011.
