Festival-goers in Maggie Valley enjoyed disappearing art over the weekend. Haywood County hosted thousands at the firstMaggie Valley Ice Festival where ice sculptures ranged from a giant elk to an ice throne. At each element, a line for photo-ops quickly formed.
But there was more to do at the event than just snap icy Instagrams. Attendees took a slick ride down an ice slide and watched as professional carvers demonstrated their craft.
Asheville-based ice sculptor Patrick O’Brien told BPR he was excited for the inaugural event.
“This is the first Maggie Valley Ice Festival we’re going to kick it off with a bang,” he said.
O’Brien makes so many pieces, he can not recall a monthly total, but a recent piece for a wedding reception stuck with him.
“Their dog was not allowed to be at the wedding, so they decided they were going to have the dog at the reception. So, I craved their dog out of ice,” he said.
His journey to the cold life began in culinary school when he learned about the elaborate craving of fruit garnishes at the professional level. He tried it out on one watermelon, and he was hooked.
“I loved it. And I went and started playing around and next thing I know I’m traveling all over the country carving fruits and vegetables,” he said.
He worked across the country as the Fruit Carving Ninja, named after a popular smartphone game, before making the switch to ice.
At his Ice Mill studio opened in 2020, he uses chainsaws, chisels, grinders and handmade tools to make his art.
“This opportunity presented itself, so we came to Asheville and we love it here,” he said.
He remains drawn to the art form because of the ephemeral nature of ice sculptures.
“It’s only up for so long. You get to enjoy it. It’s a living art that changes by the minute because it’s melting the whole time and it’s just a very cool medium – pun intended,” O’Brien said.
At the festival on Saturday, O’Brien’s tent marked a free s’mores station in front of an over 6-foot tall elk at the Maggie Valley Festival Grounds.Tiny water droplets glistened and fell to the ground as the event as the sun beamed down on the crowd.
People waited in line for half an hour to climb the wooden stairs and ride a sled down the short-frozen incline. As they waited, they watched other attendees play an unusual variation of cornhole: one where the boards were made of ice.
Local celebrity Zeb Ross, who achieved viral fame last summer with his J Creek Cloggers performance, attended the event to shoot a TikTok.
The first sculpture fell in the late afternoon Saturday – an Olaf the snowman with a face cut out for a prime photo-op. The crowd still enjoyed real-life Olaf and Elsa characters who continued to take pictures with admirers throughout the afternoon.
By 4:30pm, at least five sculptures lay broken in the grass as children jumped on the ice.
Organizers said attendance far exceeded expectations. Around 10,000 people attended the event according to the town of Maggie Valley.
At one point in the festivities, traffic at the parking entrance extended more than three miles down the road.
Find more videos from the Maggie Valley Ice Festival on Blue Ridge Public Radio's Instagram page @blueridgepublicradio.
