Annual Ice Castle Attraction Coming to New Brighton This Year
Ice Castles Minnesota have just announced a new home for this winter's attraction -- New Brighton.
For the first time in its six-year run, the annual Ice Castles LLC attraction will be held in the North Metro.
"We hope to see you at the beautiful Long Lake Regional Park in New Brighton, Minnesota," reads the caption of the latest post to Ice Castles' Facebook page, "just 20 minutes north of downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul."
Previous Ice Castles displays have been held at the Mall of America, Eden Prairie, Stillwater (twice) and Excelsior (last year).
Original plans were to see the Ice Castles back in Stillwater this winter, but fears of flooding risk at Lowell Park led to a change of location.
According to Pioneer Press, previous Ice Castles displays included "20-foot-tall structures out of ice including slides, tunnels, thrones and ice sculptures" and "low-voltage lights frozen in the ice" to illuminate the attraction.
The annual event draws tens of thousands of visitors each year. Construction on this year's Ice Castles at Long Lake Regional Park will begin in November with a tentative open date of sometime in January.
"The concept for Ice Castles was created when founder Brent Christensen attempted to build an ice cave for his daughter in the front yard of his home in Alpine, Utah. The project turned into a winter hit drawing crowds of locals to visit and tour his creation. Ice Castles has since turned into an internationally renowned tourist attraction with six locations across North America and growing." - Ice Castles, Facebook