The Ligonier Ice Festival had the perfect blend of elements working in its favor this past weekend.
The rain held off, and temperatures were brisk but not bitter cold for late January. Add to that no competition from a Steelers playoff game, and the result was thousands of people walking around the quaint downtown to admire, touch and pose with about 50 finely carved ice sculptures.
Among those posing for photos behind an ice owl were the O’Gara sisters from Ligonier — Vivian, 7, Imogene, 9, and Genevieve, 12. The sculpted owl was sponsored by their school, the Valley School of Ligonier.
“We live in Ligonier, and we love it,” said their father, Brian O’Gara.
They were among thousands of people who visited the ice festival over the weekend, with its sculptures set up around the Diamond in the center of town and along Main and Market streets in the borough’s downtown business district.
The carving experts from DiMartino Ice of Jeannette made ice horses, a crayon box, a motorcycle, a Liberty Bell, lions, dogs, a sailboat, a baseball player, a flag, a firetruck, a cat, an alligator, an angel, an elephant, a railroad locomotive and a winged stallion Pegasus.
Making their first visit as a family of four were Eric and Nicole Stephenson of Latrobe with their children, Ava, 7, and Declan, 9. The two children waited in line for a chance to sit on an elaborate icy throne in the center of the gazebo in the Diamond.
“This is really beautiful,” Nicole Stephenson said.
While a light snow might have put people in an even more seasonal mood, even without it, people lined up for carriage rides from Misty Haven Carriage. The company’s two giant white Percherons pulled a carriage with four rows of seats.
The two-day ice festival, sponsored by the Ligonier Valley Chamber of Commerce, was a boon for the businesses in town, which welcomed the shoppers and diners in what would normally have been a slow January weekend.
“It’s almost like Fort (Ligonier) Days. It (crowds) started at 1:30 p.m. Saturday and we did not close until 9 p.m.,” two hours after the normal closing time, said Shar Wiley, the mother of Ligonier Creamery owner Jessica Frayer. Sunday was busy, as well, Wiley said, looking forward to a less-hectic day Monday.
Ligonier Tavern and Table owner Mary Louise Staughton, said the ice festival traditionally is “a big weekend, unless it rains.”
Watching all of the people walk by Main Street, some of whom stopped to eat and drink at her establishment, Staughton said the ice festival “infuses the town with life.”
“This is essentially the slow season for us,” she said.
The crowds that walked along Main Street during the two-day event seemed larger than last year to Marilyn Segroves, who owns Romans restaurant with her husband, Barry.
“It’s much busier than last year,” she said.
Barry Segroves said they had a lot of people coming in from the Pittsburgh area for the festival. Many commented on how much they liked the town that is a little more than an hour’s drive from Pittsburgh.
The main attractions, of course, were the ice sculptures. DiMartino Ice owner Jared McAlister said his company used about 90 blocks of ice to make the more than 50 sculptures, some of which required two, three or four blocks of ice.
Joe Napsha is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe by email at jnapsha@triblive.com or via Twitter .