LEWISTON — With the afternoon temps reaching 48 degrees, puddles formed under ice sculptures Saturday at the fourth annual Ice Festival of Lewiston/Auburn at the Bates Mill courtyard.
“The melt is pretty fast. It goes about a half an inch an hour,” said artist Tony Bernard of Lewiston, who volunteered to demonstrate ice-carving.
Using an electric chain saw, the Ramada Inn chef created a tyrannosaurus Rex from a block of ice.“My dad taught me how to do it in the ’80s,” he said. “I’ve been doing it since.”
While the warmth may not have been the best for preserving ice sculptures, festival-goers were loving the comfort of February air in the 40s.
“We’ll take it,” said Lauren Hook of Bath, who attended with her husband, Devin.
Nearby, Al Gondeck of Turner admired ice sculptures while one of his daughters handed him a drink from the ice bar.
“I came to see what it’s all about,” Gondeck said. The festival was something fun to do on a Saturday night, said Gondeck’s son-in-law, John Russell of Auburn.
The two ice bars were popular.
Mary Cadman and Kim Goulet, who work for Mac’s Grill in Auburn, were bartenders at the shot bar that featured a fun ice luge.
“People love it,” Cadman said. “I pour fireballs down it,” and the alcohol curves down a tube into a cup. “It’s absolutely beautiful,” she said looking at fruit encased in ice. “I have no idea how they do it.”
As the sun set, a show of colored lights highlighted the ice art, which included a Yeti, snowmen, buildings of local businesses, a calculator, a skeleton and a gas tank.
The festival is a fundraiser for L/A Arts. Executive Director Joshua Vink was pleased with the turnout and how community businesses and organizations came together to pull it off. He called the reception fantastic. “It represents what this town is all about, sharing resources.”
Vink wished it had been a little colder to preserve the sculptures, but people were enjoying the comfort of warm air which may encourage more to venture out, he said. “It’s more like a spring night than a winter night.”
What’s helping this year, he said, was a tent over the ice sculptures provided by L-A Tent Rental. “They’ve been outstanding,” Vink said. “We’ve maintained the ice more than we have other years.”
When the temperature is above freezing, it’s important to keep the sculptures covered “and clean up the pools of water,” Vink said.
Inside the Bates Mill Atrium were lots of food booths from local restaurants.
Leavitt Area High School junior Brooklyn Spring manned the Green Ladle table which was passing out fruit crisps and bread pudding.
Other food booths served beef chili, butternut bisque and fancy chocolates.
The festival gets people out of the house to sample food from local restaurants, said Green Ladle pastry instructor Brianne Doyle. “It provides more exposure for local chefs.”
Back outside, a group of friends enjoyed drinks and conversation. Jessica Seefeldt of Richmond, who was dubbed the “ice festival veteran” by her friends, said she comes every year for the fun, food and drinks “and to get outside in the winter. It’s comfortable this year.”
Guy Brandon Morse of Sandown, N.H., said this was his first time. He wondered why no Baxter beer was available, especially since it’s made in town. He’s a fan of craft beers.
The sculptures, he said, “are awesome.”
The festival concludes Sunday with events from 11-2.
The fourth annual Ice Festival of Lewiston/Auburn concludes today.
Time: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. at Bates Mill courtyard off Canal Street, Lewiston
24 ice sculptures will still be there, a bit smaller from the melt
There’ll be live music from the popular Amy and the Engine, plus activities such as more than 10 stations of games (like bean toss) for children.
Admission: $5 for adults at the door, children under 18 free. Included with $5 admission is hot chocolate or coffee and sweets; food free for children.
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