The Crystal Classic ice festival is getting bigger each year, with more and more people showing up to watch ice carving or participate in the myriad of activities taking place during the festival.
With more than 4,000 people showing up this year, as quoted during the Green River City Council meeting Tuesday, the ice festival if handled correctly, can continue to grow. However, one major question arises if the event continues to grow and this is where it can grow to.
If the ice festival continues to grow, one place the festival could, and should, grow to is to downtown Green River. This isn’t a major stretch, as the ice carving competition originally was hosted along Railroad Avenue and Flaming Gorge Way.
Many business owners, like Mike Frink at Sweetwater Trophies, have said how the sculptures served dual purposes as both artistic pieces and attractions to many local businesses. The entire event doesn’t need to be hosted downtown, with either the people’s choice night or the professional competition being the one taking place in front of store fronts.
The better option of the two might be hosting the professional competition downtown and the people’s choice night at Expedition Island.
By hosting the people’s choice competition on Expedition Island would allow for the evening events to offer a warm alternative to people braving cold temperatures to watch the ice carvers. Saturday morning, after the pancake breakfast, Frostbite 5K and the Snowshoe Softball tournament, a Saturday afternoon carving competition on Flaming Gorge Way would bring attention to downtown after the festivities near the island wind down.
Provided we don’t have a warm weekend as we experienced during this year’s Crystal Classic, the sculptures placed downtown, especially on Flaming Gorge Way, would be relatively protected from the sun’s rays. This means the sculptures could stand for an extended period of time, acting as a draw for downtown businesses.
With the Crystal Classic’s increasing popularity, people would walk around downtown Green River to see the amazing artwork presented. It would act as a draw to downtown businesses, where people would stop in to businesses like Daily Knead, the Boy scouts of America Office, Mi Casita or Rose Floral after looking at an ice sculpture.
Next year, Green River should spread the Crystal Classic love to places outside Expedition Island. The downtown businesses could benefit from it.
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