Visitors are encouraged to come out to Vulcan Snow Park to watch sculptors at work during the first two weekends. Finished sculptures are lit after dark and remain on display for the duration of Vulcan Snow Park—or until they collapse. (Sculptures are knocked down if they’re growing dangerously unstable, or may collapse on their own, so plan to visit them early!)

Sculptures on Display

  • ​Exhibition sculpture – A team of professional snow artists create a giant sculpture in the week leading up to Vulcan Snow Park and during the opening weekend. Whatever the subject matter, the resulting sculpture is always enormous and spectacular.
  • Minnesota State Snow Sculpting Competition entries – Starting from an 8' x 8' x 8' block of compacted snow*, each sculpture is created by a three-person team over opening weekend using only hand tools.
  • Amateur Snow Sculpting Contest entries – These smaller sculptures start from 4' x 4' x 6' blocks of compacted snow and are created in just eight hours on the second Saturday using only hand tools by up to three team members.
  • Other sculptures – You may also see other sculptures around Vulcan Snow Park, such as those created by students from the Metro Deaf School.
​*Fun fact: One cubic foot (a square block that measures 1' x 1' x 1') of compacted snow weighs 15-20 pounds. The initial 8' x 8' x 8' block equals 512 cubic feet and weighs between 7,680 and 10,240 pounds. That’s 4-5 tons! The finished sculptures weigh less than that because a lot of the initial snow is removed, but they still generally weigh well over a ton.

Schedule

Friday, January 26, 2018
  • 8 am to 10 pm – Exhibition sculpture progresses
  • 8 am to 10 pm – State Competition sculptures get started
Saturday, January 27, 2018
  • 8 am to 10 pm – Exhibition sculpture progresses
  • 8 am to 10 pm – State Competition sculptures progress
Sunday, January 28, 2018
  • 8 am to 1 pm – Exhibition sculpture progresses
  • 8 am to 1 pm* – State Competition sculptures progress
  • 11:00 am to 1:30 pm* – State Competition People’s Choice Award voting (vote for your favorite competition sculpture!)
  • 1 pm to 10 pm – State Competition finished sculptures on display
  • 2 pm* – State Competition winners announced
Saturday, February 3, 2018
  • 8 am to 4 pm – Amateur Contest sculptures created (start to finish)
  • 4:30 pm – Amateur Contest winners announced
  • 4:30 pm to 10 pm – Amateur Contest finished sculptures on display
​Monday, January 29 – Sunday, February 11, 2018
  • 9 am to 10 pm – Finished exhibition and State Competition sculptures on display (or until they collapse)
Sunday, February 4 – Sunday, February 11, 2018
  • 9 am to 10 pm – Finished Amateur Contest sculptures on display (or until they collapse)
*These times may change. Stay tuned!

Cost

​Free

More Information