Freezing Fun At The Plymouth Ice Festival

PLYMOUTH, MI — Grab your mittens and get ready for some freezing fun. The 35th annual Plymouth Ice Festival is hitting Plymouth Jan. 6-8, 2017 and up to 100,000 people are expected to attend the icy event which will feature nearly 100 ice sculptures, a dueling chainsaw competition, an ice bar, petting zoo, horse-drawn carriage rides - and more.

Patch got a behind the scenes look into the 2017 Plymouth Ice Festival with James Gietzen, the festival organizer, whose event planning business, JAG Entertainment, also handles the "Music In The Air Series" and the "Fall Festival."

Patch: The Dueling Chainsaw Competition sounds dangerously awesome. Do you do a dress rehearsal or just fire up the chainsaws and carve?

James Gietzen: No dress rehearsal. We try to get a couple different ice carvers together and we don't put much planning into it because we don't want the ice carvers to know. We go up on stage and ask what the audience wants the ice carvers to make and then we set the ice carvers off on a 15 minute sprint with a chainsaw and one other tool.

Patch: How do you find such talented ice sculptors?

James Gietzen: We go to the local colleges...the University of Michigan, Henry Ford College and Oakland Community College. Their culinary programs usually have a club or class that teaches ice carving, which culinary students use to have a leg up on their resume when they're applying to jobs in restaurants.

Patch: What are most excited about for the 2017 Plymouth Ice Festival?

James Gietzen: There's so much more to do this year than ever before and there's something for everyone. For the first time we're going to have a horse-drawn carriage going through town. That'll be really fun for people and families to experience Plymouth.

The petting farm is fun for all the kids, moms, and dads to see their furry friends. The kids will have plenty to do with the interactive ice sculptures and the live entertainment.

We also have the Ice Bar at E.G. Nick's along with the Party Lot for people to have a good time in the evening hours. E.G. Nick's is going to have a mobile escape room.

The Park Complex down the street is an official warming station and they have all different programs from stage performers to artisan markets where you can buy Plymouth-made pottery, shirts and products. We're going to have a "Made in Michigan " area on Penniman so people can come down and shop.

Patch: You've sure seen a lot of ice sculptures. Which one stands out most to you?

James Gietzen: A 15 foot tall Eagle's nest.

Patch: This year's festival will feature interactive ice sculptures. Very cool! How do they work?

James Gietzen: Some ice sculptures are games - like you'll be able to bowl. Others will be movie characters carved out of ice that you can take pictures with.

Check out the ice action first-hand at the Plymouth Ice Festival, which runs Friday, Jan. 6 from 5:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 7 from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., and Sunday, Jan. 8 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Ice sculptures will be available for viewing 24 hours a day.

Photo courtesy of the Plymouth Ice Festival