2024 marks the 20th anniversary of the Clarks Summit Festival of Ice and to celebrate such a milestone, event coordinator Laurie LaMaster said the organizers wanted the theme to be “big.”
Well, you certainly can’t get much bigger than dinosaurs and this year, the ice sculptures that line the streets of downtown will be carved into all sorts of prehistoric monsters, including pterodactyls, allosauruses and stegasauruses and more.
“We think this is a theme that kids and families, the young and the old, will really enjoy,” said LaMaster.
Some dinosaurs were, of course, massive and a lot of the sculptures at Jurassic Ice will reflect that. Though the festival will feature dinosaurs of all sizes, some local businesses partnered together to create larger ones.
“Because of that, there’s gonna be more live carvings than we’ve had before,” LaMaster noted.
One of the many highlights of the event will be live dinosaur presentations from Park Ranger Eric of Jurassic Raptor 570, who provides prehistoric entertainment and education for a variety of events around the valley. Jurassic Raptor will have life-like dinosaur puppets and dinosaur fossils for everyone to enjoy.
In keeping with the theme, another highlight and new addition this year will be the 10-foot-tall volcano accompanied by an ice gigantosaurus at the clock tower.
“That will be a cool place for people to come and take pictures,” LaMaster said.
In addition, the nonprofit food tents that were set up outdoors in the past have been moved indoors to the Gathering Place, located on 304 S. State St., so rain or shine, people will be able to get a bite to eat in a dry, warm place.
Also, one of the event’s sponsors, Amerihealth Caritas, will have a big bus parked on Spring Street that will serve as a warming station.
