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Plymouth Ice Festival
Page 6
Sponsors allow festival to remain ‘free’
This 'free' event is pretty expensive.
If it weren't for the generosity and
commitment to the community of
many major sponsors, the 31st Annual
Plymouth Ice Festival wouldn't be able
to offer the 'free' skating, snowboard-
ing, demonstrations, ice carvings and
competitions more than 100,000 peo-
ple are expected to enjoy Jan. 18, 19
and 20.
Producer Sam Walton is the first to
acknowledge the debt the community
owes to the sponsors who pay for the
event so that there is no cost for the
entertainment and interactive dis-
plays.
“I am all about keeping this event
free to the public. This year, visitors
can skate in the park, snowboard,
cross country ski and enjoy the inter-
active sculptures, including the ice
piano that can actually play, at no cost.
That's what makes this a community
festival,” he said.
“This event costs, as a bare mini-
mum, about $75,000 to produce. The
event receives no funding from city,
state or federal dollars and all expens-
es must be paid for by private
fundraising,”Walton explained.
There are costs involved that very
few of visitors to the event ever think
about, he noted. Walton said that the
majority of the operating budget for
the festival comes from corporate
sponsorships. The city permit and
operations bill usually comes in about
$20,000 and insurance for the three-
day event usually costs from $2,000 to
$4,000.
The festival pays about $10,000-
$15,000 for blocks of ice, depending on
how much is used in the competitions
and for sculptures, Walton said. He
estimated that labor costs for carvers
and the production staff is about
$25,000 for the weekend, which is pret-
ty low, considering the amount of effort
the festival requires.
Walton said the event takes in total
about 8,000manhours to produce.
“The festival completely consumes
my schedule from Dec. 1 until Feb. 1,”
Walton said with a smile. “There are
lots and lots of 12 hour days to make
sure this is as good as it can be for the
community.”
This year, for the first time in more
than three decades, the ice festival
will be a for profit effort managed by
Walton's Signature Professional
Group.
“We couldn't produce the event
without the great support of all our
sponsors,” Walton said. “We're really
grateful for their support.”