A look at Winterfest 2025 Snow Sculpture Competition
A seasonal town with beautiful springs, summers, and autumns has figured way to draw people into their town for the cold season. A festival celebrating winter, Winterfest 2025, with their main attraction being giant snow sculpture competition built by teams all over the country. This year was its 30th anniversary, featuring champions-only. There was the strange, the sweet, and the dramatic.
This is my second-year attending Lake Geneva, Wisconsin’s Winterfest. You can compare to my first year, Visiting Mythical Snow Sculptures. I arrived early enough to catch the morning fog. This year I stayed until late afternoon, which looked like evening, in the Midwest winter. The sky was a bit more neutral as well and nowhere near as sunny as Winterfest 2024. A challenge, but you’ve got to work with what you’ve got.
Along the way, I caught views of the frozen lake, almost undisturbed. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin is 90 minutes from Chicago. Not very populated, except on the weekends and events. A few people were walking on the lake and even ice fishing. Must’ve been colder because the lake showed different levels of being frozen. No flowing water in sight.
Main Street Shops Join in with Ice Sculptures
Along with the snow sculptures, the businesses on main street sponsor an ice sculpture outside their shops. On Ice Sculptures 2025, we examine the impressive, familiar faces, and the melted-but-not-forgotten sculptures. The latter is a new edition. I didn’t have the heart to take pictures of melted or broken ice sculptures last year.
Winterfest also has bonfires on the beach once the sun sets with a flame dancing performance. Both types of sculptures are well lit after dark, so you can get a totally different perspective.
The Competition
This was champions-only for its 30th anniversary, yet the snow sculpture competition featured similar themes to last year. Mostly mythical figures, a few animals, and geometric shapes. Each sculpture features a small model figure. More importantly, a sign with team name and state they come from. Each sculpture also has a sketch of the design, sculpture name, and artist statement about the piece. This competition isn’t meant to feature all 50 states, it just allows teams from all over the country. Mostly states with heavy winters arrived to compete. With only one brave team from a hot state as you’ll come to see.
Tips If Attending Winterfest
Attend Early
Make sure to come early for parking. The great thing about attending early is you can make a full lap or two before the crowds show up. For both, the snow and ice sculptures. Once it hits 10am, you’re out of luck. You’ve been warned. Stay closer to lakeside if you want to park near the snow sculptures. Stay closer to the main streets for the shops, restaurants, and ice sculptures.
You can come as early as 7am, I did so last year. The teams were already at work and a few locals were making the rounds. But pretty much, you nearly had everything to yourself. I was able to make a lap around the snow sculptures, and see most of ice sculptures before the crowds came in. This year I came around 10am and it was immediately busy. Difficult to get a full look as you pass by and getting pictures was a little challenging. I had to get photos from the side instead of front and center. Last year, most of my sculpture pictures had an image with the sign and this year it wasn’t practical to do so.
Take a Peek at the Back
These sculptures are not meant to be seen from the front only. It’s three dimensional, so take a walk around each sculpture. Half the time, there is a secondary design on the back. Otherwise, it’s a continuation. Looking back at photos, I often confuse the same sculpture because the back is so different. Writing this post, it took too long to figure it out for Team Minnesota. I couldn’t find the design on the Winterfest official website with all the design concepts.
If you only catch the sculptures from the front, you’re missing half the show!
Don’t Be Afraid to Walk through the Park or Get Side Views
Winterfest can get crowded, and people have the tendency to do as everyone else is doing. This leads to lines starting, packed sidewalks, and a few disappointed people. Although ideal to take look front and center, it’s not required. You can avoid the crowds and step aside the sculpture, away from the lines, to view or get a picture.
This takes place in Flat Iron Park and the sculptures are roped off for protection. But you can still walk through the park, around the sculptures to avoid lines forming. Just pay attention to ropes and signs. Otherwise, feel free to walk around. People quickly see a line and start waiting, tightly packed. I wanted to get a front view of some of the sculptures, so I got in line for that. But if I could mostly see it from the side, I did and moved on.
For pictures, work within the environment. Include the crowds in your pictures. Took a few pictures of the crowds, since you usually get one random face looking straight at the camera. Little awkward, so make sure to get options. I first target the sculptures only as best I could. I’m a little short, so even just lifting my camera and angling it works for the target only. Then I bring in the crowd, either from the side or behind from a distance.
The Strange
Team Wisconsin 2 – Inner Child
Upon arriving, this sculpture caught my eye. I was passing by and thought it was the famous moon face from the short French silent film, A Trip to the Moon. That would’ve been a cool reference, but this is different. Not the moon face with the familiar smirk. Could not tell the age to save my life. Was this face meant to be from a baby or elderly person? Why was it disembodied? Looks kind of bitter or comfortably sleeping…this made stare for a bit. To myself, I found this to be a face on the moon. Or a fetus.
According to the sign, the sculpture is two-sided with one face comforted and the other upset. You can catch the grumpy side of this sculpture further below in the background of another photo. Have fun spotting it. It’s meant to be about how early childhood years can be wonderful or traumatic. And how that affects the person down the line. This was one Wisconsin team #2 and called, Inner Child.
Team Minnesota 2 – Nature Prevails
By the Riviera building, where there are little shops (nearly all food) by the docks. We see giant a toad sitting on top of a skull with a frog at its side. But the giant skull has many holes and a design at the sides. The skull turns out to be an android head laying in defeat, but to time. The artist statement explains the theme is nature over machines. AI was meant to bring humanity to new heights but leads to defeat, and ultimately nature prevails over AI. This was second place, and rightfully so. Congrats Team Minnesota!
Team Illinois – Time Flies
Coming from my hometown team, we have a pair of flies selling clocks. I feel like there’s more to the story, but the audience must to fill in the blanks here. Upon sight, I thought the flies were going to be playing in a rock band, mistaking the clocks behind them for amps. Insects or animals are common themes at the snow sculpture competition so not very surprising to run into.
This is called, Time Flies. Its artist statement asks, how much would you pay for a clock sold by flies? I like my flies-in-a-rock-band idea better.
Team Wisconsin 3 – Creativity Come to Life
This one I kind of missed out on. It was the winner of this year’s competition. On sight, wasn’t my favorite and didn’t get it very much until I saw the concept design. It can’t be seen in this picture but there was a light drawing (or etching in this case), of a castle on the painting. The idea is the dragon coming out of the painting as Creativity Comes to Life. I didn’t get understand the hand, if it was closer to the concept, it would’ve been pretty cool. Thought it was a disembodied hand.
But the winner none the less. This team won last year too with their AI sculpture, Trust Me. Congrats to Team Wisconsin 3/Sculptora Borealis for the first place!
The Sweet
Team Michigan – Kindness No Matter How Small
This appears to be inspired from the story of the Lion and the Mouse, in which a mouse helps a lion trapped in net from hunters after the lion had initially spared the life of the mouse. This is one of the first sculptures and it felt nostalgic to me. Old school in a good way.
Team New Hampshire – Friends
A favorite upon sight! I think a lot of people found it charming. A baby elephant surrounded by ice cream cones with a friendly mouse looking to take a bite, a sight I didn’t know I needed. Baby elephant had my heart automatically. The sun came out for this one and disappeared the rest of the day. A pleasant sight altogether, way to go Team New Hampshire!
Team Vermont 2 – Miner Emergency
A cute sight as a cartoonish miner is caught flying away in a minecart. Extra points for the look on his face. Sometimes faces on sculptures can be serious or unnatural or devoid of emotion. The face his face is cartoonish and reaction is surprised. A bit of “gulp” moment requires a good amount of skill. Loved the beard and hair. The tracks and mountain also add to the overall image, plus there appears to be a little animal hiding in the back. Great attention to detail.
The back is another element, showing the cave the miner entered in the first place. The opening looks deep. Well done!
Team Minnesota 1 – Bees, Butterflies, and Dragonflies
This sculpture popped even more in person. People took more time looking at this one. It’s a peaceful image of flowers surrounded by dragonflies and a butterfly. There’s a beautiful attention to detail. All the wings of the insects have a design as well as the body of the large dragonfly. Love that the butterfly is sculpted in flight.
The daisy is simple, but the time and effort is noticeable for the disc flowers (center of flower). Not positive, but I believe the other flower on the top left corner is a hyacinth. Not an easy flower to sculpt. It makes that detail more impressive since you don’t often see it.
Peaceful sculpture. A silently strong contender.
The Dramatic
Team Colorado – Symbiotic
Starting off with the least dramatic, but interesting to look at. Titled, Symbiotic, there’s a slight tension as a snake has slithered its way through this geometric shape. Its artist statement reads: Co-existence is key to survival. I’m curious as to what inspired this design. Simple but elegant.
Not sure if the snake is meant to be a threatening element. Historically, it is but I found this to be calmer.
Team Vermont 1 – Trilliant
Another geometric shape, this time diamond shaped. Very precise and stylish. I even liked watching a team member put the finishing touch it. I couldn’t tell what they were doing, it kind of looked like shining it off.
The great thing about this one, a sculptor told visitors if they came with a group to stand at opposite ends and take pictures of each other. A little peek through the sculpture. The fact that the snow sculpture was designed in mind to be interactive with the audience, from a distance, made it a better.
Team Wisconsin 1 – Book of Souls
Increasing the drama, Book of Souls, is fun to see in its massive form. Especially from afar, most of the sculptures aren’t clear from a distance. This one was, which is fun and exciting when you first spot it. Despite its dark look, this one was a crowd pleaser. This skull looked more cheerful than originally intended, per the design and model. The skeletal fingers can be seen gripping the book. The deep cavities of the eyes and nose shows a bit of dedication.
The back of the sculpture gets closer to “scary” territory. Oddly enough, the snow having a bit dirt on it helped the sculpture. The screaming face on the bottom right corner is a small but impressive detail. It seems to lift out of the book itself for a scream, trying to escape, but imprisoned. Took a minute to notice the snake on the side. A nice touch.
Team Alaska – Focus: Our Nature
One of the most intricate designs and it was true to design in person. Even more impressive, it was smaller than most of the sculptures but made a huge impact. When I arrived it was still coming together, I thought it was going to be fully abstract. When I came for a second pass, it looked incredibly elegant and effortless.
You can also see the back image (and grumpy face) of the Inner Child sculpture in the distance.
It was quietly amazing. And looked even better from afar. It had a lot of different components that strangely worked together. It was stable but looked delicate. Its artist statement is best read directly here.
Team North Dakota – Completely Oblivious
North Dakota came in strong this year. This is my second favorite sculpture. However impressive the photograph may be, this massive sculpture was a showstopper in person. Considering the last two years, there were a lot of dragons, skulls, warnings about artificial intelligence, and nature. This was a bit of fresh air.
I loved this featured a full-sized person, although representing the Greek Goddess Hera, and Zeus as the bull. It’s more traditional, old school, also a classic. This would’ve been a popular sculpture even generations ago. The Greek Gods are dancing on the bones of people, which I didn’t notice in person. And didn’t realize until I read the artist statement.
Loved the pose, it gave major tango vibes. Movement and tension. The train of the dress made me think of peacock feathers.
Team Florida – The Precipice
Surprised to find the team from the Sunshine State came in with a bold, almost divine, snow sculpture. The Precipice features a woman standing inside an open arch, almost as if from a portal. The figure is covered from head to toe. Her clothing looks like a ceremonial robe, and she brings a faithful element. Peaceful and strong, her proud stance is fearless.
Most of the teams hailed from full, four-season states with heavy winters. For a snow sculpture competition, this made perfect sense. You can safely assume snow sculptures are a hobby they get with lots of practice each winter. And perhaps a passion since childhood. For the Florida team to show up with a banger was unexpected but very much appreciated. This was my favorite sculpture of Winterfest 2025.
I loved the idea that the arch is completely open in the middle, featuring the beautiful frozen lake. The only other sculpture to do anything similar was Trilliant. But their opening was more logistics for the interactive aspect. This opening with a view even peeks into the clouds. I found it very comforting.
Disappointed this one didn’t win anything, but I hope to see team Florida next year!
Still have winter on the mind?
2025 Winterfest was a great experience. If you’d like to see more, the main street ice sculptures 2025, has been posted. I also mentioned walking on the frozen lake. Of course, you can always compare the snow sculptures with Winterfest 2024, which I mostly got to see in an early morning fog. You can also keep the winter celebration going with 2024 Ice Sculptures. Lake Geneva, Wisconsin also had bonfires on the beach to celebrate winter and these snow and ice sculptures were also lit for after dark. That is on my list for next year’s celebration. What was your favorite?