Ross Street Patio served as the home of several ice sculptures during the Red Deer Downtown Business Association's Polar Glow event this past weekend.
"Over the last four or so years, we've been adding more and more to the Polar Glow experience," said Chelsey Ward, the DBA's activations and experience manager.
"When this started, it was just ice sculptures. This was back in COVID days when we had to social distance, so we had them places around downtown. Since then we've been adding more attractions, more excitement and had more partners join us. This is sort of the first year we've had Polar Glow condensed into a single weekend."
In addition to the ice sculptures, there were craft stations presented by the Red Deer Museum + Art Gallery and the Downtown Neighbourhood Alliance. There was also hot chocolate, marshmallow roasting, roaming performers and more during the event, which ran from Friday, Feb. 14 to Saturday, Feb. 15.
The ice sculptures are brought to Red Deer by the company Ice Works, which is based in the Edmonton area.
"They arrived Friday and were carving all day long. They saved one special ice carving for the evening and did a live demonstration, so everybody could see it come together," said Ward.
Additionally, there were works by three Alberta artists on display at the event.
Ward said it's difficult to say exactly how many people attended this year's Polar Glow, but noted each day saw solid crowds.
"With the cold weather, we had a lot of people coming through quickly. I'd say about 400 people came through on the Friday. The cold has kept some people away, but a lot of people made the effort to come out and at least do a drive by here to see the sculptures. Our engagement online has been really positive. We've received some wonderful comments from the community and that warms the heart, even in this weather," she said.
"Ross Street is a hub of activity and entertainment throughout the summer. This is our chance to show off what the downtown has to offer, even in the middle of winter. The goal is for Red Deer to be a four-season city and to have this area activated all year long. Especially since COVID, we've been trying to activate this winter patio — they used to take the whole thing out every year and then reinstall it. We're trying different kinds of activities throughout the winter months, and we know this one works because people love ice sculptures."
For more information on the Red Deer DBA, visit www.downtownreddeer.com.
