Ice carving planned for Main Street tonight

Holiday Hoopla is doing an ice carving on Dec. 18. An ice carver is bringing a chainsaw to carve the ice. The event has been happening for 10 years at Cedar Falls Main Street. The ice carver that comes does more ice carvings than just the ones for Main Street. He has his own ice business.

The size of the ice sculpture has an effect on how long before it melts. If the ice sculpture is thicker, the longer it will take to melt. The temperature also matters. At 50 degrees, a single ice block could last for more than 12 hours. If the temperature gets warmer, it is going to melt in fewer hours. It also depends on if the sun is directly pointing at the ice sculpture.

Brynn Beek, Main Street’s events and marketing coordinator, said, “Three sculptures are created during the event.”

Beek said that the ice carver decides what he wants to make, but they are always holiday related.

Some of the ice carvers build traditional ice sculptures, while others build things that are popular during that time: fantasy, animals, nature and natural objects. 

Beek said that the ice carver “starts at 5 p.m. and is able to do all three carvings in about two and a half hours.”

Ice carvers can make one sculpture in three to five hours. Other ice sculptures take up two days of carving to be completed. The size and shape is also a major factor of how long it takes to carve.

Beek said that “one of our volunteers reached out to different chefs in the area. Ice carving is a specialized skill in the culinary/hospitality industry.”

The ice sculpture doesn’t melt until later Beek said. “We have never had the issue of the ice melting as it’s usually so cold in December. Sometimes if it’s a milder December, the sculptures don’t last very long the next day, but we always have had them for the duration of the event.”