Annual Festival Expected to Draw 60,000-plus Visitors to Teller Gaming Community
Rick Langenberg
The annual ice siege in southern Teller County, regarded as the gaming community’s premiere winter event, and a rare Colorado offseason gem, is underway.
The Cripple Creek Ice Festival returns to town for nearly two weeks, with the signature events starting Saturday and extending until Feb. 22. This free celebration features unique ice sculptures, interactive exhibits, family-friendly activities, and high-energy carving competitions. The festival’s main weekend festivities run February 14–16 and February 21–22, including President’s Day activities on Monday, February 16.
Planning for the popular gala is now in full force, capped by the delivery of close to 200,000 pounds of ice, with the first big delivery scheduled for today (Feb 10). As a result, the town’s main street (Bennett Avenue) will be closed today and on Feb. 17.
The wild card this year could become the weather, with Colorado featuring one of its warmest February months on record.
City officials and festival organizers, though, are bullishly optimistic that Old Man Winter will show his more arctic, tougher side.
“We are expecting a huge turnout,” said Marie Rieger, the director of marketing and special events for the city of Cripple Creek. She expects the two-weekend festival to generate crowds of 60,000-plus, comparable to past years. And based on long-range weather reports, conditions look favorable for the event, with a possible cold front moving into the region this week, based on preliminary reports.
The big draw for 2026, similar to last year, but with a little extra push in 2026, consists of live speed-carving competitions, scheduled to take place on Saturday, February 14, and Saturday, February 21 at 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m., featuring six carvers racing against the clock to complete themed sculptures in 60 minutes before a live audience. Each winning carving will be awarded $1,000. The competitions offer almost a stadium-like attraction, that some dub as the Super Bowl of Ice Carving.
“The carvers are absolutely amazing. They are from all over the world,” said Rieger. Crowds are often mesmerized by the ice carving showdown, with much interaction occurring between carving competitors and fans.
In fact, this year, due to the talent of the featured ice carvers and teams, festival organizers opted not to center the event around a specific theme but rather let the carvers craft pieces of their own desire. “When we saw a tiny bit of what they were planning to put together that was fine with us,” said Rieger.
In past years, the Ice Fest themes sometimes got a little confusing, according to some critics.
During the competitions, six teams will compete for a $5,000 cash prize, with the winning team announced on Sunday, February 22 at 1 p.m. Attendees can cast votes for their favorite main sculpture displayed on Bennett Avenue via QR codes displayed throughout the festival.
The six participating carving teams are Snice Carvings LLC, Ice Cubed of Denver, Cool Hand Ice Carving, Bui Art, Colorado Fruit Designs, and Thomas Barlow.
And like past years, ice sculptures will line Bennett Avenue, complemented by an ice slide for family fun, for an entire two-week period.
Provisions also are being made for outdoor warming shelters to offer temporary relief, in case the mercury plummets. The Catch 22 feature of the Creek Ice Fest is that frigid temperatures are great for the carvers, but in reality, most Ice Fest visitors prefer sunny temperatures.
As a result, event organizers are planning for a worst-case scenario.
For example, a warming tent will be set up at Pocket Park, next to city hall. In addition, Reiger stated that maps will be available, offering guides to family-friendly restaurants for kids. Currently, she said almost all restaurants in town welcome the under 21-age crowd. “
Still, event organizers are urging Ice Fest fans to dress warmly.
A Winter Jackpot
The Ice Fest event actually began in 2000 on a smaller scale. Since then, it has emerged as a popular annual winter tradition. Based on reader surveys in TMJ News, the event is ranked as one of the most popular among the many festivals hosted by the city. “The city of Cripple Creek is very pleased to bring the Ice Festival to town again this year. It is unquestionably one of our community’s most popular events, and we look forward to welcoming residents and visitors alike for this unique, family-friendly experience,” said Cripple Creek Mayor Annie Durham.
In recent years, it has grown dramatically, in crowd size and in vendors.
“There is really nothing like this event in the state,” admitted the Cripple Creek marketing and special events director.
In fact, the popularity of Ice Fest played a key role in the Uta-based national Ice Castles company opting to pick Cripple Creek as one of their Colorado locations.
The festival, however, hit hard times previously during the COVID epidemic, and was put on a hiatus status for several years. Around this period, the city temporarily halted funding for special events.
The absence of Ice Fest drew many protests from business operators and residents throughout the entire region, and not just in Cripple Creek. Finally, at the urging of many residents, the city renewed their support for the festival and reaffirmed its relationship with local casinos in putting the festival back on its special event map. Ice Fest also marks one of the town’s most successful events, featuring a strong partnership between the city and the gaming community.
Compared to many events that are now featured in Cripple Creek and southern Teller, Ice Fest has generated hardly any complaints, a real oddity for Cripple Creek, where locals are quite vocal about the pluses and minuses of local events.
For more information about the Cripple Creek Ice Fest, visit the city’s tourism-related website.
