Good news for St. Paul Winter Carnival fans upset about having to hoof it to Harriet Island: Your celebration of fire and ice is coming back to downtown – at least for 2008.
Organizers of the Winter Carnival have decided to return almost all the festivities to the downtown side of the river next year, with a particular focus on Rice Park. Public reaction to this year’s bash – which made Harriet Island a one-stop shop for ice and snow sculptures, Vulcans, hotdish and music – helped drive the decision.
“People were really missing Rice Park,” said Kate Kelly, president of the St. Paul Festival and Heritage Foundation. “We wanted to give them Rice Park and more.”
Many of the Jan. 23-Feb. 3 carnival activities will tie in with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships at the nearby Xcel Energy Center. The festival will go on for 12 days, rather than the usual 10.
The skating championships, which will run Jan. 20-27, are expected to draw 100,000 visitors to the city and feature nightly broadcasts on NBC. Kelly said she wanted to take advantage of that opportunity, as well as capture skating fans on their way to the X.
“They’re groupies. Predominantly female, wealthy, (with an average age of) 47,” she said. “We’re riding the shirttails of an audience we normally don’t hit.”
Although Kelly said she considered this year’s experiment at Harriet Island a success, some carnival-goers complained about parking, shuttles and accessibility.
Weather of both extremes put a damper on attendance. Forty-degree temperatures melted some ice sculptures the first day. Later, an arctic chill kept many families at home.
Some also felt the magic of the ice sculptures was lost in the vast riverfront park.
“It’s such a big space that even though there were a lot of things going on, it didn’t look to scale,” said Ernie Schroeder, a longtime volunteer and a foundation board member. “Yeah, there was a snow slide and an ice maze, but because it was on such a huge field, it looked small.”
Harriet Island would be ideal for an ice palace year, Schroeder said.
In the meantime, a replica will have to do. Kelly said organizers are planning to build a “mini ice palace” about the size of a 2½-car garage in Rice Park. It would share space in the downtown square with the ice and snow sculptures, a heated tent offering music and food, and a new “city of ice” featuring a lobby bar and local landmarks.
At least one event, the carnival’s dogsled rally, would remain on Harriet Island.
There was much ado last year when festival producers partnered with the city to announce the big move to Harriet Island, considered St. Paul’s go-to grounds for bashes like Taste of Minnesota and the Irish Fair of Minnesota. City parks and recreation director Bob Bierscheid did not return calls for comment Tuesday.
The carnival foundation would consider returning to Harriet Island in future years, Kelly said. Her board is expected to ratify the changes at a meeting next week and make a formal announcement in August.
The return to downtown, she said, should comfort many carnival fans.
“Especially with our seniors, they enjoy going to the St. Paul Grill, having tea and checking out the ice,” Kelly said. “I think everyone’s really happy about it.”
Laura Yuen can be reached at lyuen@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5498.
Copyright 2007 Pioneer Press.
