Winter weather matching the chill of Niles Hunter Ice Festival
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — For more than 20 years, the Downtown Niles Hunter Ice Festival has brought frosty fun in the form of live ice carvings, ice fights, and even ice cream to the community.
They kicked off the 2026 weekend festivities Friday with a ‘Meet the Carvers’ party at The NODE (Niles Outdoor Downtown Experience).
The festival always takes place in January, and this year, the Michiana area got nearly a foot of snow just days before the event. Folks like Niles resident Paula Loupee said the icy conditions help make the festival a true winter wonderland.
“If it’s not too miserable, it just makes it like a fantasy… because it’s just bringing life to our town and it’s grown so much and it just gives the businesses the business that they need down here and then people get to know about Niles and they love it,” said Loupee.
Josh Niven has been carving ice at the fest for nearly a decade. He said set up with the snow can be tricky, but as the temperature drops below freezing, the cold makes for a day as smooth as ice, not having to worry about melting like in past warmer years, and he hopes it dips even lower for the weekend.
“It definitely adds an ambience to the festival. Ice, snow go hand-in-hand… our perfect conditions are 18 degrees and cloudy. No wind, it’s great for everybody to come out, it’s great for the ice, nothing gets destroyed, it’s not too wet, we don’t have to sweat too hard moving the ice around, carving it, making beautiful things out here,” said Niven.
To learn more about the Downtown Niles Hunter Ice Festival and view the schedule, click here.