St. Paul Winter Carnival

I've lived in Minnesota almost my entire life, and this was my first year at the winter Carnival. Always raved about, and I have to say I was a bit disappointed. It's in a small tight area with a ton of people. It's crowded and really not much going on. The huge ice castle this year was neat to see, other than that there were a few food stands with crazy long lines, low key live music, and a parade that consists mostly of people riding in the back of their trucks waving at on lookers, pretty boring. I think many people enjoy this 'carnival' as more of a nostalgic avenue. The people you go with is what will make or break your time here. If you can all have a good time together it will be a day well spent, otherwise you're kind of freezing yourself outside just to say you attended. However, the highlight of going would definitely be when the St Paul hotel sells their famous hot chocolate on certain days, and that was delicious - not super sweet, but smooth, creamy and chocolatey. ;)

If you, like me, grew up in the Midwest watching the Mighty Ducks, attending the St. Paul Winter Carnival has probably been a long-held dream. We made my childhood dream a reality this past winter and visited Rice Park on the night of the parade. Getting to the park from Minneapolis was easy - we hopped a free light rail ride and then walked the short distance from the station to the park. The streets and park were packed - we ended up walking along the parade to get to the park and tried to snag a spot to see the storming of the castle or whatever the legend is. Sound was echoy and it was hard to follow but there's a lot of fire blowing and everything ended with fireworks. It turns out our spot along the square was the perfect vantage point for the fireworks; they were directly overhead. The lighted "ice palaces" and sculptures were probably the highlight, and we discovered after the fireworks that a seemingly endless line to nowhere was actually the line to sit on an ice throne and have your picture taken. The line was halted during the skit, presumably because the fireworks launch from behind the throne. The night we went there was a Prince cover band; they pulled a good crowd and you could still feel how much it united the community being so soon after the Purple One's passing. Refreshments-wise there wasn't a whole lot going on, though most people seemed to have a beer in hand. Lines were long and prices were high for any booth we passed. There's not a lot of information or signage so it was a little unclear if there were any activities to participate in or if there were costs involved. I think a lot of people grow up coming to this festival and it's mostly locals; you know what to do because you've been doing it your whole life. While we had a good night, it's probably something I don't need to do again now that I've crossed it off my list, but I'm glad it's such a hallmark for residents of the Cities.

It was cool, cheap and very Minnesotan, but I was still a little underwhelmed. It could be the fact that it was so cold out and couldn't feel any of my limbs, but it was hard to stand there for more than a couple of minutes.When you walk up to the St. Paul Winter Carnival you are welcomed by a beautiful EcoLab ice castle, which I must say is pretty cool. Surrounding are small stands for small businesses and a super cool ice bar. I feel bad that I did not find it as cool as I was expecting, but I should have been more understanding that it was probably more of a weather issue than an event issue. If you are in the Minnesota area, I would say you have to go here at least once in your life, but make sure it is a warm day (for us Minnesotans that means above 0 ; ) ) and layer your clothing!

Minnesota....in the middle of winter? Carnival, like Mardi Gras? Uhm, no. We celebrate the season in our mostly midwestern of ways: Parades, Klondike Kate, King Boreas, the (dreaded) Vulcans. Nothing says it better than the St. Paul Winter Carnival. Activities have been updated (due to Covid concerns), but check out their website and have fun outdoors!

This ain't FloridaAnd it sure as hell ain't San FranSo quit your whining(It's not every day you get to see professional quality ice and snow sculptures. Yes, it's in Minnesota in the middle of winter. No, it's not not going to be warm outside. No, the people of Minnesota are not so prissy that they are going to let a little cold weather stop them from having some fun. Grab your winter coat, grab your gloves, and leave the pretension at the door... and enjoy the show!)

There's no better place to be in the Twin Cities in January than outdoors in St Paul. The St Paul Winter Carnival offers two weeks of pageantry, royalty, parties, and wholesome family fun. The event includes two parades: one during the day, one at night. There is fireworks, ice sculptures, an ice castle, concerts and plenty of other reasons to enjoy everything that Minnesota winter has to offer. The lore of the carnival involves the King of Winds, his brothers, the God of Fire, King Winter, Queen of Snow, Queen of the Northlands, a sassy lass named Klondike Kate and other magical creatures. As a newcomer to St Paul, it didn't make much sense to me, but it was fun to see all of the carnival teams and players in action during the parades. One of the things I love about the carnival spirit in St Paul is that there is no shortage of royalty or generosity. We attended the concert at Rice Park and identified no less than 50 young girls wearing crowns and/or sashes. It's particularly fun gathering at Rice Park after the parade, admiring ice sculptures and exploring the castle, which include an icy throne and a huge fire pit. After dark, the ice castle is lit up giving the entire park an extra spark of magic. Trees are lit in the park and a ice rink offers free downtown skating.Bundle up, gather around the fire, and have fun. You can also have Kettle Corn. Corn dogs. Cheese Curds and other carnival snacks. A separate event that coincides with the St Paul Winter Carnival is the Red Bull Crashed Ice event in downtown St Paul where speed skaters race down an obstacle ramp attached to the side of St Paul's Cathedral. Thousands of people overlook the event and participate in a block party sponsored by Red Bull on 7th street at the bottom of Cathedral Hill.

The Winter Carnival is really rather small and isn't as popular as summer festivals I would say. We went there to try the outdoor ice-skating rink and arrived around 11am. You have to line up and sign a waiver before you're allowed to rent skates and ice skate. It was at least a 15-20 minute wait just to sign the waiver. I hate waiting in lines, and if you do too, this is not a good place to go.The ice rink itself is really small, and there's no zamboni, so the ice surface is super rough. Not great for ice skating, but great for photo ops with the historical st. paul downtown buildings for a back drop.

Coolest place on earth!Coming from CA, I donned my winter gear and got out here with the locals and some family and got digging for treasure in the treasure hunt and spent many a frozen night outside at parades and parties.Vulcan victory dance is one of the highlights not to be missed!what an amazing experience. Do it!

They have some free stuff on the side and if you are lucky they hook you up with the good stuff. Carnival was terrible.

When you look at the history and see what the St Paul Winter carnival use to be, you will see how pathetic this winter carnival currently is. Many small town carnival's are better then this. As a St Paul resident, I hope to see this event get back to it's glory days. I just wish that this event showcased many of the community leaders and our local celebrities. Why is hockey not more of a focus? Ice fishing, snowmobiling, Dog sled races, and sledding activities? Instead we have puzzles, drag queen show, and a beard growing contest?