ELY- The North Country’s biggest mid-winter bash — the Ely Winter Festival — is set for Feb. 6-16, and the board of directors and their small army of volunteers are hard at work to make it a success.
The fun begins now with the arrival of the festival’s long-sleeved T-shirts and annual festival pin in stores (they’re also available online). Pin sales furnish 10 percent of the funding for the festival every year, and they make great holiday gifts. Out of the pin’s seven dollar purchase price, one dollar always goes to the arts programs in the schools, rotating annually amongst the departments there. The proceeds this year will help out the instrumental music department. 
As always, the International Snow Sculpting Symposium anchors the festival. Carvers will go to work with chisels, gardening trowels, pancake spatulas, hole saws, and curry combs beginning Thursday, Feb. 6. Since this is a symposium, not a competition, visitors are welcome to pop by and speak with the carvers as they work. They’re a friendly bunch, happy to trade tools, stories, ideas, even hot drinks.
As always, new events are being added almost every day. You can easily keep up by visiting Ely Winter Festival on Facebook, or dropping by the website at www.elywinterfestival.com. At the moment, you can expect ice skating in the park, snowshoe trips to Listening Point and the Lake Hegman pictographs, and hot refreshments also in the park.
Other events parallel the festival to everyone’s benefit. The Great Northern Beard Fest is set for Feb. 6 and 7. The Ely ArtWalk, which turns the entire business community into an outdoor art gallery, runs throughout February. Every imaginable medium is represented, and most pieces are for sale.
Speaking of money, the festival doesn’t have a money tree in the back yard. The festival is funded by grants, business sponsorships, fundraising activities, and (mostly individual) donors. The Ely Chamber of Commerce helps out with advertising, but the festival is an independent nonprofit organization not affiliated with the chamber.
The festival just held its Oktoberfest fundraiser, which featured the Largemouth Brass Ensemble, an authentic alphorn group, along good food, dancing, and costumes. The whole thing was a blast and a huge success monetarily so it may be held again next year. In the meantime, sponsorship letters to businesses are already in the mail. If your business didn’t get one, contact the Festival Coordinator at 218-365-SNOW (7669). To donate directly, go to the festival website, at www.elywinterfestival.com, and click on the Donate button. 
This activity is made possible in part by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council, thanks to appropriations from the Minnesota State Legislature’s general and arts and cultural heritage funds. It is also made possible in part by a grant from Ely’s Donald G. Gardner Humanities Trust.