The arctic chill that stung the St. Paul Winter Carnival in its final weekend put a damper on the dogsled rally, shrank lines at the beer booth and even sent the ponies home early.
But enough things went right on a much milder opening weekend to convince carnival organizers that they should return to Harriet Island next year.
Those successes include a live music stage and hot hard cider in a heated Hot Dish Tent. Not to mention the true star of the tent: the hotdish itself. Over the 10-day run, revelers wolfed down 5,000 pounds of the nine casserole varieties supplied by Kane’s Catering.
What’s on the list of things to improve? Parking, shuttles and accessibility. Critics griped about the lack of nearby street parking and the hassles of getting across the river – both legitimate points, said carnival chief Kate Kelly.
“Harriet Island is not like sitting at a lobby bar and looking at the ice,” said Kelly, head of the St. Paul Festival and Heritage Foundation. “You’ve got to get out there and hoof it. We need to take a serious look at how to take care of our seniors and handicapped population.”
Organizers are discussing the idea of a heated trolley on Harriet Island that could bring seniors and other passengers closer to ice and snow sculptures, Kelly said. Most of the attractions probably will return to Harriet in 2008, except for a Rice Park centerpiece: a community of ice, where folks could stroll down an ice replica of Mickey’s Diner or sidle up to an ice bar for a drink.
Carnival organizers said they’ll improve the shuttle system for next year’s festival, which coincides with the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Paul. The school buses circulating through downtown during this year’s carnival left dozens of people waiting in the cold, especially on the afternoon of the Grande Day Parade.
“We weren’t prepared as we would have liked to have been,” said carnival spokeswoman Mary Huss, who said organizers based their estimates for shuttle wait times on the Taste of Minnesota summer fest. “It’s a little different waiting in the cold vs. 70-degree weather. The tolerance level is not as great.”
Organizers ordered two additional buses for the final weekend. But because of the chill that kept folks hunkered down at home, they ultimately didn’t need the extra vehicles.
“(Sunday) was a dismal day in Minnesota,” Kelly said.
How dismal? The featured animals of the kids’ pony rides bailed out in the final weekend in spite of solid ticket sales from the start of carnival. Sunday’s temperatures ranged from 2 to 11 degrees below zero. Organizers shortened Saturday’s Torchlight Parade.
“If it was sunshine and no wind, it would be different,” said Bob McMillan, who with his wife operates Pony Pals out of Scott County. “That was just too much for us. We got to Harriet Island (on Friday), and my wife said that it was just too cold.”
It was too cold for ponies, and apparently too cold for – well, a cold one. Organizers said the carnival marked the first year that involved the sale of alcoholic drinks.
“It was hard to talk everyone into having a pint of ale when it was 10 below,” said Tim Fitzgerald, who coordinated beverage sales for the carnival.
Fitzgerald said he only sold a third of what he initially had hoped for. There were no long lines that typify festivals like the Irish Fair, held in the summer on Harriet Island. Still, the Summit Pale Ale drew faithful drinkers, as did a hot hard cider that Fitzgerald developed mid-week in response to requests for warm drinks.
“Considering the weather, I think it went great,” he said. “Give us another 20 degrees, and we would have been going gangbusters.”
A 150-foot-long snow slide attracted between 12,000 and 15,000 rides in the first weekend, Kelly said. Her office did not immediately have precise counts for the slide or a 5-foot-tall ice maze, which had fallen short of its targeted height because of warm-weather complications.
Laura Yuen can be reached at lyuen@pioneerpress.com or 651-228-5498.
Chris Anderson of Semple Excavating drove a wheel-loader Monday morning and knocked down the walls of the St. Paul Winter Carnival ice maze on Harriet Island.
Copyright 2007 Pioneer Press.