Harrisburg schedules 8th annual Ice and Fire Festival March 1 with 68 ice sculptures and downtown street fair

Harrisburg will host its eighth annual M&T Bank Ice and Fire Festival on Saturday, March 1, with 68 ice sculptures displayed across neighborhoods including Downtown, Midtown, City Island, Italian Lake, Reservoir Park and Chapel, city officials said.

Event organizers said the downtown street festival will run along Second Street from Market to Pine from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with sculptures illuminated after 5 p.m., live entertainment, an iceless skating rink, a 30-foot ice slide and a scavenger hunt using QR codes.

The festival is intended to draw visitors and highlight local businesses. "Visit Hershey and Harrisburg's mission is to drive economic growth through tourism and to boost awareness of events and experience among our neighbors here in the city and, of course, across Dauphin County," said Lisonbee Warball, director of communications and content at Visit Hershey and Harrisburg.

City communications director Michelle Moyer said a full event guide and map are available online at harrisburgpa.gov/ice. Andy Hetrick, senior vice president at M&T Bank, the festival's title sponsor, highlighted the scale of the display: "41,000 pounds of ice this year, if you can believe that," he said.

Organizers described several signature features: six life-size sculptures (including an ice throne, a photo frame and an excavator with a construction worker), live ice carving beginning at 2 p.m. on Second Street (this year's live carve will be a giant pelican), and a scavenger hunt that requires scanning 10 QR codes to register for merchandise donated by local businesses. The 30-foot ice slide, sponsored by Aetna Better Health for Kids, and the "iceless" skating rink sponsored by Capital Blue Cross are free to ride and open to attendees of all ages.

Additional programming includes UPMC-hosted stage performances, fire-dance shows by Skylark Circus Arts at 5 and 7 p.m., more than 25 artisans and vendors on Second Street and inside Strawberry Square, family activities at the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts, and horse-drawn carriage rides departing Second and Pine streets from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. (register on-site or contact the event at the phone number provided on-site). Organizers said 16 food trucks will offer a range of foods and that many downtown restaurants will run ice-and-fire–themed specials.

Transportation and access notes: Second Street will be closed between Market and Walnut starting at noon on the Friday before the event. On Saturday, March 1, Second Street between Market and Pine and Market Street between Front and Second will be closed from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Access to the River Street Garage and some side streets will be affected. ParkHarrisburg is offering discounted parking in the Market Street garage from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. for drivers who enter after 10 a.m.; a ParkMobile code (luvHBG) provides up to four hours of free street parking before 4 p.m., organizers said. Free ADA shuttle service will run between City Island, the downtown street festival and Midtown every 30 minutes starting at 11 a.m.; the last shuttle back to City Island will depart the Broad Street Market at 7:20 p.m.

Mayor Williams closed the announcement by encouraging residents and visitors to attend: "Harrisburg is a city that shines in every season," he said.

Organizers and presenting partners thanked numerous sponsors for supporting the free community event, including M&T Bank (title sponsor), Visit Hershey and Harrisburg (presenting sponsor), Explore Harrisburg (marketing sponsor), Capital Blue Cross (ice-skating sponsor), UPMC (stage sponsor), Aetna Better Health for Kids (ice slide sponsor), Garmin Builders (heated tent sponsor), Staybridge Suites, Harrisburg Horseshoe, Coordinated Energy, Groundworks, Spark Harrisburg, Strawberry Square, the Whitaker Center and other community-level sponsors.