LAKE GENEVA, Wis. — The 28th annual Lake Geneva Winterfest is underway Thursday at Flat Iron Park.
Officials have been preparing for this week's events for the last few days. Luckily winter decided to show up to add some ambiance. But not too far away, the lack of cold weather delayed one of the most popular winter attractions in the area.
At the Lake Geneva Ice Castles, we strapped on our shoe spikes and protected our heads as Alberto Huerta gave us a tour. Workers were busy making last-minute preparations to open this weekend, a week behind schedule.
"Almost for a month straight all of January was just crazy warm," Huerta said. "A lot of it just melted as you can see there's some spots now where we've got some exposed things."
Every year it's a gamble with mother nature. Will it be cold enough or will they have a melting mess to fix? Huerta said this year was worse than any of the past 5 years he's been involved.
"As much as we hate to push the start day back, we have to do it thinking of the safety of the guests and our employees," said Huerta.
Across town, city crews are bringing snow to the Riviera and Flat Iron Park for the annual Winterfest!
"We appreciate mother nature for the beautiful snowy background but no we actually don't need the snow to run winter fest that is courtesy of the mountain top ski hill over at grand Geneva resort," said Deanna Goodwin with Visit Lake Geneva.
With the snow already on the ground, it would be like bringing sand to the beach right? Well, they need the extra icy water-packed man-made snow for a big competition.
"Winterfest is actually the home of the U.S. National Snow Sculpting Championship," said Goodwin.
15 teams, from Alaska to New Hampshire and a couple from right here at home, will carve snow for 3 days into larger-than-life sculptures.
Competitors will return Thursday to start day 2 of their competition. It's the only national snow sculpting championship here in the United States. If you'd like to check it out, just come on down to Rivera Plaza and Flat Iron Park right here along the shore of Geneva Lake. It's free to attend and view. Sculptures will be on display through Sunday until they melt.
And if you're still looking for more winter festivities, check out the ice castles at Lake Geneva near the Geneva National Resort and Club. The fortress, slides, tunnels, and caverns are made entirely of ice.
