Ice Sculpture Festival in downtown Tecumseh returns this weekend

TECUMSEH — The ice sculptures cometh! 

Downtown Tecumseh will once again become a winter lover’s two-day destination when the 14th annual Tecumseh Ice Sculpture Festival returns Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 21 and 22. 

Just as last year’s event was beefed up by having the most sculptures in its history, the same is being promoted for this weekend's event. 

Guests will be able to check out at least 50, if not more, handmade ice sculptures, which are sponsored and placed throughout the city’s business district. 

Each finished sculpture starts as a 20-by-40-by-10-inch block of ice, Rhonda Nowak, Tecumseh's marketing and event coordinator, said. Artists then use a variety of tools to form the ice into each creation.  

Partnering again with Tecumseh for bringing the ice sculptures to life is Ice Creations of Napoleon, Ohio. 

“We keep bringing them back year after year because we have such a good time working together,” Nowak said. “Each year, I think, the festival gets bigger and better than ever.” 

Festival hours this weekend are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. There is no cost to visit the festival. 

The sponsorships for the sculptures come mainly from downtown businesses, but there are also businesses outside of the area that participate. 

Main sponsors for this year’s festival include Old National Bank and Visit Lenawee. Additional event sponsors consist of Next Era Energy, Carpet on Wheels, Tecumseh Downtown Development Authority, the Central Business Association, the city of Tecumseh, Tuckey’s Big Boy and Premier Bank. 

Nowak called the ice sculpture festival one of Tecumseh’s largest and best-attended events. Its support and importance is twofold, she said. 

“First off, it’s such a fun event to watch,” she said. “But it also serves as a big help for our retail businesses in the wintertime — usually a slower time for retail sales — which in turn allows our businesses to give back into the community.” 

January is also somewhat of a dreary and dull month because of the winter season, Nowak said, and the ice sculpture festival allows for some outdoor, family-friendly fun. 

A variety of sculptures are planned for this year, and Nowak called herself the “lucky person” who gets to see the design of the sculptures before they are created. Without giving away too many surprises, she said, people can expect to see such sculptures as animals, a coffee cup, different cartoon characters and other creative sculptures spread throughout the heart of downtown Tecumseh. 

Last year’s festival featured a larger-than-life ice chair that people could actually sit on and take photos. A similar larger-than-life ice creation will be back in downtown to serve as another photo opportunity for guests. 

The always popular dueling carvers from Ice Creations will have two public events Saturday, at 1 and 3 p.m., where they will take suggestions from the audience and engage in a duel to see who can create that suggestion the fastest. Additional ice carving demonstrations are planned throughout the day Saturday. 

The Michigan Avian Experience will be present from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday and will have a great horned owl that people can see and learn about.

While the schedule for Sunday is a bit lighter than Saturday, people still have something to look forward to when Olaf, the comical snowman from Disney’s animated “Frozen” movie franchise, will be strolling the downtown streets from noon to 1:30 p.m.

Throughout the entire weekend, people are invited to participate in a scavenger hunt that will take them through various downtown businesses, and the hot chocolate/hot beverage walk through businesses is also planned.