Ice Castles move to Minnesota State Fairgrounds this winter
ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Ice Castles are returning to the Twin Cities this year but will be at a new location: the Minnesota State Fairgrounds.
Last year, the Ice Castles were in Maple Grove, but record warmth prompted organizers to close the attraction after just eight days.
Ice Castles, LLC — a Utah-based company founded in 2011 — has other locations this season in Colorado, New Hampshire and Utah.
The experience boasts ice slides, caverns, crawl tunnels and ice sculptures. There is also a frosty ice bar.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's winter outlook forecasts a colder and snowier than average season for Minnesota this winter. Cool ocean surface temperatures in the central Pacific Ocean — a pattern called La Niña — tend to bring this type of weather to the Upper Midwest during meteorological winter, which runs from December through February.
Midway through November, Minnesota has yet to see significant snowfall, but a system arriving early next week has the potential to bring snow showers.