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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

2019 Ely Winter Festival is off and running

Keith Vandervort
Posted 2/7/19

ELY - The annual Ely Winter Festival celebrates its 35th year when it gets underway on this Friday, Feb. 8, and organizers say this year’s event will offer plenty of traditional favorites as well …

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2019 Ely Winter Festival is off and running

Posted

ELY - The annual Ely Winter Festival celebrates its 35th year when it gets underway on this Friday, Feb. 8, and organizers say this year’s event will offer plenty of traditional favorites as well as exciting new additions. The event runs through Sunday, Feb. 17.

Kickoff activities include Ely skiers, hockey players, ice skaters, dancers, and the Ely High School’s percussion section joining forces for a high-energy evening with a parade through the park and the official lighting of the fire cauldron that will burn during the weekend. The event kicks off at 6 p.m. on Friday and cookies and hot chocolate will be available for everyone.

Northern Grounds at 2 W Sheridan St. is the official 2019 Ely Winter Festival headquarters, where those interested can obtain festival information and buy a pin or a t-shirt to support the festival.

The snow-carved reproduction of the official 2019 Ely Winter Festival pin, with an image of a pine marten, is located at the Front Porch Coffee and Tea shop, located at 343 E Sheridan St. Warmer temperatures over the weekend allowed Nancy Scheibe and her crew to create the traditional symbol.

The International Snow-Sculpting Symposium is already underway in Whiteside Park as 18 teams from Ely and around the world create amazing art from huge blocks of snow. “They finish up their work Saturday night,” said EWF committee member Shauna Vega. “This year we welcome a new team from Ukraine, and look forward to the return of Team Argentina, and Team Bon Temps is moving up from amateur to professional.”

The Northern Lakes Arts Association (NLAA) is again sponsoring an Amateur Snow-Carving Contest in the park. As many as 15 smaller scale blocks of snow are available and, the carving is just as artistic as the big creations. Judging will be held on Sunday, Feb. 9, in three categories:

1) Individuals, adult or student.

2) Adult groups, and

3) Student groups.

NLAA is also hosting a Downtown Arts Market on Saturday, Feb. 9 at Amici’s Ceremony Hall, 301 W Sheridan St., from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

​With the recent sub-zero temperatures in mind, visitors to Whiteside Park can thaw chilly toes and fingers in the large warming tent, complete with stove.

Ely Flower and Seed created and maintains a skating rink in the park, Vega said.

“Other activities in Whiteside Park this weekend include winter camping demonstrations, the fifth annual Kubb tournament, kicksled demonstrations, and a fat bike tour of local trails with rentals available.

New activities added this year include a meditation labyrinth in the park, created by Tranquility Wellness Center, and a chili cook-off contest on Saturday noon to 3 p.m. in the park pavilion to benefit the Ely Area Food Shelf.

The windows at dozens of Ely’s businesses are filled during the Winter Festival with the work of the community’s numerous artists, displayed by the folks at the Ely ArtWalk. “This is the 20th anniversary of this special Winter Festival activity,” Vega said. Brochures with a map and descriptions are located all over town.

An Ely ArtWalk artists reception will be held Saturday, Feb. 9 at The Art Corner, 301 W Sheridan St., from 1-3 p.m.

The Winter Festival Community Dance, hosted by the Ely Folk School, will be held Saturday, Feb. 9 from 7-10 p.m. at the Ely Senior Center. Music will be provided by The Bootlicker String Band. Admission is $10 for adults. Children get in for free. “All the dances will be taught, so don’t worry about being experienced. Just come join in the fun,” Vega said. This activity is made possible in part by a grant from the Donald G. Gardner Humanities Trust.

“Speaking of the Ely Folk School, nearly 20 classes will be held at the Sheridan Street building during the festival,” Vega said.

“Enjoy the Veterans on the Lake fish fry on Saturday, Feb. 9,” she continued, “and check out the Hidden Valley Candlelight Ski later that day, beginning at 5 p.m. They’ll have hot cocoa and a bonfire.”

On Saturday, Feb. 16, the Nordic Ski Club will host kids races and silly fun at 2:30 p.m., a 10K Ski Tour at 3:30 p.m., and 10K and 20K Fat Bike Races at 5:30 p.m.

A new family event, the Ely 4-H Puzzle Derby, will be held Saturday, Feb. 16, at Ledgerock Community Church, from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Prizes will be awarded to the first three teams that complete their 500-piece puzzle in the two-hour time slot. The cost is $40 per team. Lunch and snacks will be available to purchase. Preregistration is due by Wednesday, Feb. 13. Go to www.regonline.com/ely4hpuzzlederby.

Medallion Hunt

As part of the 2019 Ely Winter Festival, the Ely Chamber of Commerce Event and Promotion Committee is hosting the third annual Ely Northwoods Medallion Hunt.

There are a total of ten clues, released at 10 a.m. each day starting Feb. 7, with the final clue posted Feb. 16 to lead hunters to the medallion.

Clues are posted at the Chamber of Commerce building at 1600 E Sheridan St., on their website page (www.ely.org/medallionhunt), on the Ely Chamber of Commerce Facebook page and at participating Ely merchants.

The first one to find the medallion will win $250 in Chamber Bucks.

Each participating Ely merchant will also have Northwoods Medallion Hunt commemorative wooden nickels. For every ten wooden nickels turned in at the Chamber of Commerce, players will receive an entry form for a drawing for four prizes: first place - $100 Chamber Bucks, second place - $75 Chamber Bucks, third place - $50 Chamber Bucks and fourth place - $25 Chamber Bucks.

No purchase is necessary. Visit participating merchants often to collect a coin – one coin per person at each store per day. For more information about this event, please visit www.ely.org/medallionhunt.

The Ely Winter Festival and the Ely ArtWalk are funded in part by grants from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council (thanks to a legislative appropriation from the Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund), the Donald G. Gardner Humanities Trust, the Ely Chamber of Commerce, Fortune Bay Resort Casino, Miller Hill Subaru, and local merchants, organizations, and individuals.