Ice Sculpture Walk at Winterfest 2025 in lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Each February, Lake Geneva, Wisconsin celebrates the winter season through its festival, Winterfest.  The local businesses on main street play their part featuring ice sculptures just outside their shops. Keep scrolling to see 2025 ice sculptures and views of the frozen lake. We have some returning characters from last year, impressive new standouts; and of course, the ones that got away (or melted in the sun).

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin Seasonal Atmosphere

This town is more known for its summers and falls since boating and shopping are the main things to do. It’s a quick 90-minute drive from Chicago, so people are often coming for a day trip or weekend getaway. Summer homes are popular here, and there are multiple boat tours highlighting the massive mansions lining the lake. The autumn foliage is also stunning lakeside since there are lots of greenery.

It’s a great town just to walk along the lake and a little by the residential area to see the beautiful homes. One could spot traditional American Craftsman and Victorian style homes in the neighborhood. Gourmet food, gifts, clothing, knick-knacks, lamps, you get the drift. Lots of shopping choices here, and restaurants and bars to match. The festival celebrating winter is a good balance to get people to this more seasonal town.

Walking on the Frozen Lake

The frozen lake is another draw during winter, whether on the lake or at the beach. On the drive over, I spotted a few fishermen cutting into the ice for some fishing nearby. Always fun to catch the point in the lake where water meets ice.

And this year, I spotted a snow sled, or hovercraft, with a significant line for the price ($50 per adult, $40 per child, lap children free). Or you could just walk on it as most people opted. How far you go is up to you. People walked pretty far in and it’s plenty cold so it wasn’t a problem. There are buoys in the distance to mark an end point for safety. Not sure this was allowed but someone showed up in a motorbike and was able to ride. Thought it would fall, but it was noisy and flew right by.

Despite my pictures looking super close to a typical evening time, this is what 3pm during winter looks like in Wisconsin. The ice was beautiful and only a little scary to walk it if it’s your first time. The first few steps going in is always a bit thawed. Just keep going and the pure frozen ice is just a few feet in. Last year, I noticed the beach was much cleaner than the lakeside. Happy to report, it didn’t look anywhere as dirty this year.

The dozens of footprints in all directions are always a fun find. And even better if you can spot the footsteps heading towards something in the distance. Couples and families are always scattered about. Spotting a few children on the floor, not sure if they fell or just sat down. But walking on frozen lake is always an entertaining experience. You can often spot first-timers. This year I noticed a lot more people watching from the walking pathway versus venturing in on the frozen lake itself.

Of course, the snow sculpture competition is the main draw of Winterfest. You’ll be able to see that post here. Feel free to compare the difference between this year and last.

But back to our ice walk at Winterfest on the main streets of Lake Geneva.

Ice Sculpture Walk

Winterfest features a map with all participating shops, which is super helpful, on their website. Keep in mind, the sculptures are lit so you can also check out the beautiful displays after dark. I personally like to just walk around and see for myself without a plan in place. I highly suggest you come early morning and take in a lap, or two, if you want to get pictures. The sidewalks can get packed once it’s late morning in this area.

Ice Sculpture – Repeat Offenders

Some shops kept their design the same. An outdoor sports store had its Big Foot or Sasquatch or Yeti, depending on your lore. However, it was tipped over, leaning back. It may have been intentional as it’s difficult to see some of the sculptures. Being all ice and a single tone makes it difficult to see unless there’s an intricate design that keeps its shape. The background of the building were also light colored, making it even harder. The design here was easier to see against the green background.

Another familiar face, literally, popped up outside a Mexican restaurant. The design is a sugar skull with wide open smile. The dark background helped getting a better look. The base was glistening in the sun but was not melting thankfully.

The last repeat offender was the Welcome to Lake Geneva or tourism office, featuring a wreath and a snowman for the lodge. It screamed winter, which set itself apart. Most of the sculptures didn’t incorporate the season into their sculpture concept, strangely.

The Ice Sculpture Stand Outs

My favorite from last year was the impressive Dreamworks logo, which features a half crescent moon with a boy reading a book on it as he fishes. It was outside an olive oil shop. I thought a bookstore would’ve been a better fit in with the dreamy places books take us but can’t win them all.  Another favorite was the only ice sculpture with any color, a bouquet of brightly colored balloons. It had been sitting in the sun but stayed strong. A cheerful appearance.

But this year had a few more impressive ice sculptures. I’ll start with one from a saloon with a beer. Nice and simple. Last year, there was a glass pint beer that had more of a cartoon or animated look to it with a foam. But that was for a different bar. This saloon had a bottle of beer but had a bolder lining etched throughout.

Another one with a strong image etched into the ice is this David Bowie from his Ziggy Stardust era. I believe it’s even showing the differences in Bowie’s eyes, since his eyes had different colors (or more technically, a lack of color in one eye). A random pop culture reference at Winterfest.

This next one is a simple cat. Dare I say, a black cat. Or perhaps I’m influenced by the background of the shop but this one gives strong black cat vibes. It’s elegant stance staying strong in the sun shining right on it. It was pretty clear too.

We saw the predator, now the prey. This clothing boutique had a bird posed. Going on a ledge, thinking it might be a Red Cardinal due to the shape of its head. Not sure what it is about the neutral ice this year, but I was immediately seeing a Red Cardinal. Although a Blue Jay apparently has a similar head. This was placed under the overhang of the shop but was still touched by the sun. This was better placement against the door frame and arched windows with rounded corner. The shop might’ve been encouraging people to stop in. All other shops kept their display on the sidewalk. But this was a great design and worked really well at the entrance.

The next animal featured is a cute little squirrel outside a restaurant with a cabin theme. It even has its own little acorn. This was a bit out of the way, just slightly off main street. This place was busy, a popular spot. The squirrel fit the aesthetic of the building. Good job.

Now, we’ll move to more playful animal characters. More like mascots. We’ve got a smiling bee with shoes. Not sure if this is a specific logo. This was outside an artisan gift shop with honey and beauty products.

This one made me think of Jiminy Cricket due to its stance and top hat. However, the bottom looks like a mermaid tail. Apologies for not catching the concept (I’m sure it’s me). Either way, it is more of a playful character than the more serious animal stances we’ve seen so far.

This one was difficult to see as well by the time I arrived. I was strangely seeing the Mario Bros. plant sticking out of the green pipe but this was majorly incorrect. Multiple adults were staring at this before a child said, Snoopy. And yes, looking closer, snoopy on top of his doghouse. Ah, that was it! This looked beautiful day one, if you check out the store’s Instagram. It was pretty good before the sun decided to wreak havoc.

An alligator head with its mouth wide open, swallowing up this Italian restaurant, probably best incorporated its name into the design. Great strategic move!

An olive oil shop went with a more traditional design of a bottle of olive oil with a side of grapes.

A teddy bear toy coming out of a box was a sweet one to see. One could still see its little face despite its sunny view.

A ballerina posing, which kept its design intact. Being located in a shady spot worked in its favor.

And one of the best ice sculptures, this looked better in person than photographed. This detailed sunflower looked to be made of glass outside a home goods store. It still looked good at different angles too. Most of the sculptures were only clearly seen from the front and the details would get lost when looking at different angles. This stayed true to form from wherever you stood. A strong design.

Full disclosure, Winterfest was 4-day event. These images are from the third day. As we see our final group, the sun was relentless. Location followed by design ultimately decided which sculptures had a better chance. And coming on the second to last day didn’t help. I’m wondering if the clearer ice sculptures were poured with water in the morning or something. Because some looked very cloudy and I think water might’ve helped.

Melted But Not Forgotten – Death of an Ice Sculpture

Well, it was beautiful while it lasted. Last year, some of the ice sculptures had succumbed to the sun and possibly interference from the public. Although technically a theory, multiple sculptures have evidence of people bumping into it. I didn’t have the heart last year to even take their pictures. I regretted it though and made sure to snap a few as I came across them this year.

There are different stages of sculptures passed their prime. A few are still clear on the design and others were left to interpretation. Most were clearly done in by the sun, which was mostly based on location. Others clearly involved in some sort of accident, whether they were bumped into, or something just broke apart.  

The first looks pretty good, based on image alone it doesn’t look bad. But in person, this had a huge pool of water and few pieces of ice on the floor. It’s a sacred heart and was clearer in photos than person. I had to move around a bit to get a good look at the design.

This next one still looked good(ish). What got me was the people from the shop were a little heartbroken and placed the image of what it originally looked like. It’s a French press with filigree and even ‘Coffee’ written on it. By the time I saw it, it was pretty blurry. The details were no longer discernable. This was outside a spice shop.

The messages continued but this was just a simple, “I was a dog.” Yes, I needed that note. The stances in the legs were clear enough to guess but the head was long gone. This was another victim in the sun sitting in a pool of water.

This sweet little sailboat was very clear but got a little messy.

Oddly enough, the bottom part fared the best despite being in the sun. Guessing this was the Eiffel Tower and architecture was definitely this shop’s passion. Last year, they had a castle that was much larger and fared well throughout Winterfest.

Zero clue as to what this one was, outside a vintage clothing shop. However, this suffered both from melting and some sort of interaction. Shards of ice are on the floor and the pedestal. I’m wondering if someone tried touching up the sculpture and more fell off than intended? It looks like a tool was taken to it than a simple bumping into.

And lastly, with a bit of research into the ice sculpture on day one, only half of this ice sculpture made it to the third day. A heart shape can be seen but the original design featured two hearts, one on top of the other. A little filigree design was inside both hearts both connected by a curvy swirl on its spine. This one fell to time, sun, and some sort of interaction. More ice shards on the ground. This was outside a real estate office.

Winterfest 2025 had a great batch and the shops in Lake Geneva’s downtown are wonderful sports! I love seeing the participation and think it’s a fun tradition. There were lots of ice sculptures, wish I could capture them all. There was a television I missed that you could pop your head behind, and a familiar dragon that was featured on the 2024 post.

I hope this encourages you to take a look at this for yourself next year, if you’re in the area. Or find a similar event near you. It’s great to take a walk and discover the designs. Even more entertaining if you’re trying to figure out the design. This goes to show what one seasonal town did to bring people during its off-season. Overall, I love the idea of celebrating winter. It’s also showing there’s more to winter than the holiday season. We should go out and enjoy it!

I’ll leave this Winterfest Lake Geneva link in case you’d like to hop on by next year.