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NILES — One of the Niles community’s most popular events is set to return this weekend.

The 21st annual Hunter Ice Festival will take place from Friday, Jan. 17 to Sunday, Jan. 19 in Niles’ downtown area. The annual event is free and open to the public. Six expertly carved ice sculptures from prominent artists will be placed around the downtown for people to view. 

The Festival is sponsored by the Niles Downtown Development Authority Main Street, directed by the organization’s promotion committee and underwritten by the Hunter Foundation. The goals of the festival are to encourage commercial activity in the downtown area and tell the history of the Hunter Family and their ice carvings and ice cream.

The annual Fire and Ice event will take place Friday evening around 7 p.m. at Riverfront park behind the Wonderland Cinema and Front Street Pizza. The 15th annual Frigid 5K Run will take place Saturday morning and live carving will take place throughout downtown, along with business specials and events. Saturday evening will see the ice carving competition at the Riverfront amphitheater at 4:30 p.m. Additional activities include ice games and sledding. 

For Ice Festival information and updates, visit the Hunter Ice Festival Facebook page.