Ice Castles & Mazes

Spicer Winterfest brings community members and volunteers together to build a brightly lit point of pride on Saulsbury Beach. It's part of a month-long soiree that includes a polar plunge, a "Fire on Ice" dance, and a pond hockey tournament.  

Sporting everything from ice slides to frozen waterfalls is the Maple Grove location of Ice Castles, a social media sensation that can only be found in five states across the U.S. Delano’s Fountain Hill Winery also has an outsider bringing their ice block skills to Minnesota for a Norwegian-style Ice Palace with tunnels, slides and bridges.

Ice Sculptures 

The World Snow Sculpting Championship is back in downtown Stillwater Jan. 17 - 21 along the St. Croix River in Lowell Park. Teams from as far away as Finland, Argentina, Ecuador and Turkey will be competing for a grand prize and bragging rights in what’s become the event for sculptors who are able to turn mounds of snow into museum-worthy works of art. A wild rice cook-off, indoor market and warming house will also be happening all weekend. 

Ice Bars

Speaking of sculptures, Saint Paul’s longtime Winter Carnival features several ice carving competitions. Swing by Rice Park’s outdoor bar for Minnesota-made beer and mulled wine, catch live entertainment and local vendors, and snap a photo on a frozen royal throne.

Building on the buzz of the floral ice bar at Cardamom is a similar outdoor setup at Daniel del Prado’s Rand Tower restaurant Blondette. Swing by on Friday or Saturday night to gaze up at downtown Minneapolis and sip on highly experimental cocktails. 

Downtown Rochester’s Social-ICE is more than your average ice bar experience; it’s a full-blown winter extravaganza, held annually in Peace Plaza and boasting a wide assortment of themed ice bars. Previous years have featured signature drinks and speaker-rattling DJ sets alongside tributes to everything from the Minnesota Wild to Ghostbusters.

A winter staple on Lake of the Woods, the Igloo Bar at Zippel Bay Resort is a wooden structure covered with foam insulation that’s dragged onto the ice for anglers and anyone who wants to brave the elements with a beer. Pull open trap doors to go fishing from the comfort of your bar stool, or simply grab a drink, kick back and soak up the unique charms of the heated igloo bar.

Ice Festivals

Even if you don’t ice fish, you can still celebrate this tried-and-true Minnesota tradition at one of many festivals around the state, including the world’s largest ice fishing contest: the Brainerd Jaycees Ice Extravaganza. Hosted each January on Gull Lake’s Hole-in-the-Day Bay, the tournament pulls in 10,000 anglers from around the world to compete for more than $150,000 in cash and prizes. Other notable ice fishing fests include the Sleepy Eye Sportsmen’s Annual Ice Fishing Derby, the Poles N Holes Fishing Derby in Detroit Lakes, and the ice fishing contest at Wabasha’s annual Grumpy Old Men Festival.

The world’s largest ice carousel is one of the main draws at the annual Sunny Zwilling Memorial I.C.E. Fest in Little Falls, a free two-day event rounded out by igloo building, dog sledding, curling, ice diving with an underwater drone, and a spearfishing demo. One of Minnesota’s longest running ice-related events is Moorhead’s Frostival, which spreads cardboard sled races, kickball matches, a snow sculpture competition and disc golf over six action-packed weeks.

For more trip ideas and a complete rundown of the countless festivals that keep Minnesotans busy all winter, check out our frosty fun guide here.