Bloomington’s Freezefest 2025 kicked off with an exciting day of ice carving and a chili cook-off Thursday.
The annual celebration started Thursday morning with ice carving, including sculptures of various Bloomington icons proudly on display.
Bloomington has been hosting Freezefest for the past five years, sponsored by local staples like Morgenstern Books and Café and Upland Brewing Company. Both residents and people hired by event management alike create the intricate sculptures. One of the out-of-town carvers was Arby Russell.
“I’ve always been kind of a hands-on person, making stuff with my hands,” Russell said. “I went to culinary school and that was my first taste of sculpting.”
Russell spent part of the day carving a grand piano, the purpose being to pay homage to Bloomington’s musical scene. Each sculpture had some connection to Bloomington, it's IU campus or downtown hotspots like the Sample Gates and icons like IU football coach Curt Cignetti.
“Bloomington as a community is great,” he said. “The people around are very awesome.”
The event draws in tourists from all across Indiana.
Two of these visitors were LuAnn Tanzilli and Dorthy Surface, hailing from Indianapolis and Kokomo, respectively. The two friends met in Bloomington to enjoy a day full of winter festivities.
“We’ve never been to the ice sculptures before,” Tanzilli said. “I think any special event encourages community as well as tourists.”
Surface was looking forward to spending time in Bloomington, where she does not often find herself.
“It’s a nice little day trip, very interesting,” Surface said.
The two planned to look at the ice sculptures then eat lunch at Upland Brewing just across the street from The Mill, where the sculptures were on display. Freezefest draws people from out of town to try local spots, boosting Bloomington's tourist business and helping the town grow an identity outside of the campus, according to The Mill Venue and Booking Manager, Nick Faulkenberg.
Freezefest also draws in local residents, like Patty and Mark Slovinski. This is their second year attending, and they are looking forward to the rest of this weekend.
“It's just one of the many things that makes Bloomington unique,” Mark said.
Besides the ice sculptures on display Thursday and Friday, there is also a chili cooking contest and a pop-up ice cream shop by The Chocolate Moose at the Mill Cafe.
To find more information and a schedule of this weekend’s events, visit the Freezefest page on Visit Bloomington’s website.
