Meet the Winter Fest 2026 ice carvers

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — As Fort St. John concludes week two of Winter Fest 2026, ice carvers showcased their masterpieces over the weekend. 

The city’s annual winter festival – formerly High on Ice and rebranded as Winter Fest in 2026 – is a month-long celebration and, as part of its events, an ice carving competition took place from February 13th to 16th at Centennial Park from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. 

This year, 220 blocks of ice were used by the city during Winter Fest 2026. 

Ryan Harvey, communications manager for the City of Fort St. John, said: “The cost of the 220 blocks of ice, including transportation, is about $30,000.” 

It turned colder over the weekend, and on Family Day, February 17th, it was forecasted that the Peace region, including Fort St. John would receive up to 25 cm of snowfall. 

He shared: “The weather taking a turn there at the end of the weekend dampened things a little bit for the closing, but there were still quite a few people out to experience everything.

“From what I’ve heard, [there was] a pretty good turnout over the entire weekend.”

Ahead of the ice carving event, the sculptors spoke to Energeticcity.ca about their plans. 

Kevin Lewis 

As a resident of Comox Valley, Lewis began logging and felling at 16. He started carving wood with a chainsaw in 1996 and has worked with wood, ice, antler, ivory and bone. 

He is known as Uncle Kevin Carves on YouTube. 

This year, Kevin Lewis, who has been carving wood for the past 30 years and ice for the past eight years, told Energeticcity.ca: “I’m going to [make] a castle with some gargoyles around it.” 

Lewis was most excited for the “sculptures, the slides, the community [coming out] and the fire tower going off: that [will be] amazing to watch.” 

Ryan Cook 

Cook has been carving ice for 13 years consecutively in Fort St. John. He began his carving career on the TV show Saw Dogs after being cast as “the apprentice.” 

After turning pro, Cook won many competitions and became a main cast member on the HGTV show Carver Kings. He has also appeared on Netflix shows like Virgin River and Big Timber. 

Due to the unpredictable weather, he had scaled down the bug sculpture he had in mind. 

He said: “[This year], the theme is going to be, ‘who’s hunting who?’” 

Cook was excited for Winter Fest because every year, it feels like the whole city attends. 

He shared: “This year, there’s going to be tubes, crazy carpets and a tunnel. The great thing is we’re going back to the way it used to be and carving on the weekends. 

“[For] the last few years, we’ve had to be done by the weekend. People are going to be able to come down…at the beginning of the day and then come at the end of the day and see a completely different sculpture.” 

Abe Waterman

As a resident of Prince Edward Island, Waterman started his visual art expressions through sketch and painting before he moved to snow, sand, wood and stone. 

This being Waterman’s third year at Winter Fest, he said: “My theme is to make a nautical- themed throne.” 

But because of the warm weather which the city experienced during the first half of February, he thought the strategy would have to change. 

“I think the design is going to get changed,” he said, adding this year, he expected to see a lot of families come out and have a great time. 

Dmitry Klimenko

Klimenko, who is from St. Petersburg in Russia has been carving ice for the past 23 years. He says ice is a “wonderful medium” that has plenty of opportunities and no limits.

Apart from ice, Klimenko works with bronze and wood. He has been part of multiple international festivals of ice and sand sculpture in Japan, Russia, the USA, Canada, Kuwait, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, the Netherlands, Poland and Latvia.

He said: “The organizers asked me to think about the big Filipino community [here]. They asked me to use something [from] Filipino culture. 

“I decided to make an interactive piece. When I saw the pictures of the Filipino eagle, they had crowns or like a headdress, [they are] such amazing creatures. I want to make a Filipino eagle like a bench.” 

To check the full schedule for Winter Fest 2026, click here.