Ice sculptures, a chocolate tour, an inaugural pub crawl, and many more family-oriented activities graced downtown Lewisburg on Feb. 5-6 as part of the 13th Annual Heart of Lewisburg Ice Festival. The festival involved many local businesses, mainly located on Market Street. The event was widely attended by both students and members of the surrounding areas alike, bringing together the University and Lewisburg communities.

The festivities began on Feb. 5 with live ice carving demonstrations in Hufnagle Park. These ice sculptures were later displayed downtown. The demonstrations were followed by an a capella concert to fund the University’s student-run service organization Bucknell Advancing Communities, Educating & Serving (B.A.C.E.S.) service trip to the Dominican Republic. A capella groups included The Bison Chips, The Offbeats, The Silhouettes, Beyond Unison, and Two Past Midnight.

“[We] visited The Ice Festival on Friday night to view the ice sculptures [and were] glad [we] did before Saturday’s sunshine,” Lynn Alvarez, a member of the Lewisburg community, said. 

“My favorite sculptures were the Buffalo Bison, the peacock, and the whale,” Alvarez’s daughter, Aja, said.  

There also was a $10 chocolate tour that featured chocolate tastings from assorted downtown vendors, as well as the Inaugural Polar Bear Pub Crawl that involved six participating establishments: Lewisburg Hotel, Brasserie Louis, Smiling Chameleon Draft House, The Towne Tavern, Civil War Cider, and Bull Run Tap House. Participants who visited every location and punched their “passport” were entered in a raffle to win a series of gift baskets. Tickets were sold for $20 and all proceeds benefited the Lewisburg Downtown Partnership.

On Feb. 6, events began with a pancake breakfast at the Lewisburg Club, hosted by the Lewisburg Lions Club. Tickets were available to the public for seven dollars. Later that morning, the Frosty 5K was sponsored by Giant Food Stores. In the afternoon, hundreds of members of the community—students, faculty, and community members alike—took the 10th Annual Polar Bear Plunge. Participants stripped down to the bare essentials—or costumes, for some—and ran full speed into the 40-degree Susquehanna River, off of the St. George Street landing. 

“There was a lot of excitement and it was great to see so many members of the community come out and support the event,” Sarah Och ’17, who took the Plunge, said.