Seasonal / Downtown Plymouth
Plymouth Ice Festival
Late January, downtown Plymouth fills with ice sculptures: live carving, a chainsaw showdown, an ice throne and a zip line. Viewing the carvings is free.
01 / The story of this place
Make time for these
In 1982, Scott Lorenz, son of the owner of Plymouth's Mayflower Hotel, borrowed an idea from an ice festival in Japan to beat the post-holiday slump: fill downtown with ice sculptures. It worked, and every winter since, this small city west of Detroit turns into an open-air ice gallery for a long weekend. Each piece starts as a 350-pound block, and in 2026 more than 150 carvings lined the sidewalks and Kellogg Park. Highlights include live carving competitions, Saturday night's Dueling Chainsaws, the Ice Throne photo op and a 300-foot zip line over downtown.
- 150-plus ice carvings around downtown
- Live carving and pro competitions
- Dueling Chainsaws on Saturday night
- The Ice Throne family photo op
- A 300-foot zip line over Ann Arbor Trail
Photos were taken at different times; images are resized and cropped on cards.
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Sources & fact check · Checked: 2026-10-01
An independently written bilingual guide. This collection is not an attendance-based ranking.
03 / Events
Events at this place
Published events automatically linked from our event guide. Times are local to the venue.
We have no published upcoming events linked to this place yet. That does not mean the venue has no events; check its official calendar too.
Official website & visitor information ↗Keep exploring
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