The 129th Winter Carnival starts next week. The four dozen events over 10 days are a mixture of traditional favorites and some new fun for “The Coolest Celebration on Earth.”
The biggest announcement for the 2015 Carnival is the addition of a Royal Courtyard in Rice Park. Made with 1,000 blocks of ice cut from Lake Phalen, the structure has a bit of a feel of an ice palace. (The last full-scale Winter Carnival ice palace was built more than a decade ago.)
Festival-goers can expect a children’s slide, sound and light show, king’s chair and legend character cutouts inside the courtyard.
There will be a fee to get into the courtyard. Activities outside the icy walls — including ice sculptures and the entertainment stage — are still free. The ice bar will be back, too, with brews from Summit and special Winter Carnival wines from Cannon River Winery — Vulcan’s Revenge red and King Boreas white.
OTHER NEW EVENTS
— Rocker Kat Perkins of Minneapolis was a Top 5 contestant on the sixth season of NBC’s “The Voice.” Perkins will perform on the Rice Park main stage at 7 p.m. Jan. 24.
— This year’s Jigsaw Puzzle Contest will feature a local artist’s design. Each team is given a puzzle they have never seen to put together. The contest starts at 8 a.m. Jan. 24 at the Landmark Center Cortile.
— The Winter Carnival’s first pie-eating contest starts at 3:30 p.m. Jan. 31 on the main stage in Rice Park. Participants will have to eat a whole pie by local bakers Sunny Lane as fast as they can — without silverware.
— Eight teams will compete in the Freeze Your Bags Off Tournament at noon Jan. 31. The bean bag tossing tournament was at an Inver Grove Heights bowling center last year. This year’s bag toss moves to Rice Park.
— Winter Carnival organizers launched an updated website this year. Carnival-goers can find the Royal Legend, history, photos and the most up-to-date information on events at wintercarnival.com.
Katie Kather can be reached at 651-228-5006. Follow her at twitter.com/ktkather.
Copyright 2015 Pioneer Press.
