This Weekend: Ice Harvest Festival at Hanford Mills Museum

Above: An ice check at the mill pond, conducted earlier this month.

Right now, at 4 pm, it is 51 degrees in New Kingston. Never fear, fans of actual winter, the temperatures will be dropping back down to the 20s on Friday, just in time for this Saturday's ice harvest festival at the Hanford Mills Museum in East Meredith. According to organizers, the festival is a recreation of a winter activity that was essential a century ago. Children and adults can walk out on the frozen mill pond and help cut blocks of ice using vintage ice saws. The ice will then be hauled by horse-drawn sled and packed in a traditional ice house. Other activities include a hot soup buffet, horse-drawn sleigh rides, children’s activities, outdoor firepits and more.

For more events coming up around the Catskills, see the Watershed Post's event calendar.

Hanford Mills Museum, 51 County Highway 12, East Meredith. Saturday, 2.2.2013, 10am-4pm. $8.50, $6.50 seniors, children 12 and under and museum members free. (607) 278-5744. For more information, see hanfordmills.org.

Topics: