Ice Alaska

Ice Alaska will not be hosting an ice-carving event this year, due to a lack of sponsorships and other organizational problems. But longtime ice-event organizers Dick and Hoa Brickley will be staging an alternate event, which opens one week from today.

For the first time in 29 years, Ice Alaska will not be hosting an ice-carving event. The nonprofit’s board of directors made it official Wednesday by canceling plans for a smaller youth carving event the organization had hoped to stage in March. The organization will instead focus on bringing back the World Ice Art Championships next year.

The World Ice Art Championships will not be held in Fairbanks this winter. But officials with the organization that’s been running the annual ice-carving competition for the past 28 years say they’ve reorganized and are working on a smaller event this year for young ice sculptors. Members of the Ice Art board of directors say they’ll announce next week whether the organization will be able to stage the event in March.