The Americas



Icy conditions over the weekend left New York too cold to enjoy an ice festival.

Central Park with snow.

Central Park with snow. Image by Ralph Hockens / CC BY 2.0

A festival centred on live ice-carving and other wintery celebrations was set to take place in Central Park over the weekend, but was cancelled on Friday due to a frosty forecast. The event was organized by the Central Park Conservancy.

The park saw a low of -1 F (-18 C) on Sunday, making it the coldest Valentine’s Day in 100 years, according to ABC in New York.

The conservancy announced on Friday that the event would be cancelled due to the extreme temperatures and high winds and will not be rescheduled.

While the festival’s organizers say they were being cautious for people’s safety, the festival’s scheduled ice sculptor, Shintaro Okamoto, told the New York Times that his company has done exhibitions in the past where temperatures were in the negative 20s or 30s in places like Fairbanks, Alaska and Ottawa, Canada.

Unfortunately, it’s not the first time this year that cold weather has stood in the way of New Yorker’s fun – the 2016 Winter Jam, which was set for 23 January in Central Park, was also cancelled due to a blizzard warning. The blizzard that hit the city dumped 25.1 inches of snow in Central Park, which was the third-largest snowfall on record, reports CNN.

Read more: Snowboarder cruises New York City streets during blizzard