FSJ celebrates 20 years of High On Ice Winter Festival
This year is the 20th Anniversary of the High On Ice Festival in Fort St. John, and even though the event offically ended on Sunday with Fire and Ice (setting a bonfire inside an ice sculpture), Centennial Park was packed with families on Family Day Monday. As always, the ice slides proved especially popular, no matter how cold it is!
Let’s take a look back at High on Ice over the last 20 years:
The 2008 High on Ice Festival’s theme was Celebrating 150 Years of BC, and featured sculptures depicting various early modes of transportation, such as this canoe. There was also a dog sled sculpture, and the sled was big enough for kids to sit in.
2013’s High on Ice Festival was also an Airshow year in FSJ, and some of the sculptures had an aeronautical theme, like the sculpture at the entrance to Centennial Park:
The ice slides have evolved over the years from the first one in 2008 which was barely 4 feet high, to the mammoth dual slides of recent years. Of course this year, although very cold, at least had snow!
Throughout the two-decade history of High on Ice, it’s always amazing to see the skills of the professional carvers in action and the sculptures they create with blocks of ice and chainsaws.
We can’t forget the dozens of wonderful sculptures! Here are a couple from this year’s festival. If you haven’t had a chance to get down to Centennial Park and check things out, the City of Fort St. John has posted videos of their livestream on YouTube, plus with the frigid weather expected to last a few more days, there’s still time to stop by Centennial Park to check out the sculptures and have a slide down the ice slides before things start to melt.
