Ice Fest arrives in Cedar Falls

The wooden ice house in Cedar Falls burned down in October 1921. The whole town came together to rebuild the ice house with clay. The clay building stands today off W 1st, where it opened in January 1921. During that time, it stored between 6,000-8,000 tons of ice each year. The building was built to hold 16 million pounds of ice. The ice was cut from the frozen Cedar River.

Carrie Eilderts, the executive director of the Cedar Falls Historical Society, said, “The first Ice Harvest Festival took place in 2019. We normally hold the festival two years in a row, then take a year off, and one year was cancelled due to lack of ice, so 2026 will be the fifth festival.”

The ice museum is open to the public May through mid-October, Saturdays and Sundays from 1-4 p.m. It is the only remaining 1921 ice harvest facility in the United States. The museum includes iceboxes to view, along with tools that were used to cut the ice from the Cedar River. 

Eildert’s said her favorite memories “are of all the ways people find to have outdoor winter fun. We always provide items for people to make snowmen. One year, the snow wasn’t quite right for building snowmen, so kids still found a way to make snowmen flat on the ground, which turned out to be adorable.”

The average temperature of the air to cut ice has to be well below 32 degrees, and the ice should be at least three to four inches deep.

Another thing Eilderts finds interesting is “so many people have memories or knowledge of ice harvesting and using ice for refrigeration in ice boxes, whether it be their own childhood memories, or memories passed on from parents or grandparents, but not many people have actually seen ice harvesting take place. This festival helps bring that history to life and helps people understand one of the ways in which the Cedar River was so important to the community.”

At the Ice Festival, participants can watch the Amish carving demonstrations and ice harvesting. They can also watch blacksmithing presentations. They can snowshoe, ice fish, take photos and do STEM activities for all ages. There will be hot food and beverages available to purchase for those who need to warm up and fill up.

Regarding the fishing at the event, Eilderts said, “We do have a couple volunteers who do ice fishing at the festival, following the ice harvesting demonstrations. They are happy to help people try their luck, but unfortunately all the activity going on usually scares the fish away.”

Another event at the Ice Festival Eilderts said is, “Andy Mills, also known as ‘Uncle Stinky,’ will be giving the blacksmithing presentation. At the last festival, he had some decorative pieces for sale, and also made some metal ‘lollipops’ to give to kids. I’m not sure if he plans to do the same this year, or if he has something different planned. We’ll see on Saturday.”

Eliderts said, “There are usually five-10 members of one extended family who come to cut the ice. Additionally, Eliderts said the ice “does not go to the Ice House Museum. The museum is filled with exhibits, so it is no longer used to store ice like it was in the 1920s. If the Amish need the ice for their own refrigeration, they will take it with them. If they already have plenty of their own ice this year, the ice will remain on the shore of Big Woods Lake until it melts.”

“They have a variety of different saws to score the ice and cut the blocks loose,” he said. “They bring a conveyor belt to move the ice blocks from the lake up to the shore. From there, ice tongs can be used to pick up and move the blocks. Kids will have a chance to try out using a pair of ice tongs themselves.”

There is also an artistic side to the event. Eildert said, “Ron Dillaveau will be doing ice sculpting at the festival, but he will be bringing his own ice to use. The ice that comes out of the lake isn’t necessarily the prettiest or in big enough blocks to use for sculpting.”

The event starts Saturday, Feb. 7 at 10 a.m. and goes until 3 p.m. at Big Woods Lake on the North Shore. The ice carving demonstrations are happening at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.