Preview: See 80 snow carvings and 150 ice sculptures at 2025 Zehnder’s Snowfest in Frankenmuth, MI

An artist works on his snow sculpture at the 2024 Zehnder's Snowfest. (Gloria Rzucidlo/AmericaJR)

Frankenmuth, Mich. — The 34th annual Zehnder’s Snowfest is set for a big return to Frankenmuth, Mich. from Jan. 29 through Feb. 2, 2025. It will feature about 150 ice sculptures and more than 80 snow carvings. In addition, there will be live entertainment, a petting zoo, a fireworks show and more!

I spoke one-on-one with John Shelton, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Zehnder’s of Frankenmuth via Zoom. Here’s our discussion below:

Please give me some highlights of the 2025 Zehnder’s Snowfest. 

“We pride ourselves in having one of the highest quality snow and ice carving events,“ Shelton said. “We kick off Wednesday, January 29 with our world class double and single block competition begins. We always have our ever popular All Things Chocolate baking contest sponsored by Michigan Sugar. That’s from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday evening, we’ll kick off our state competition. We have 19, three-person teams in that event. We’re really looking forward to a high level showcase of ice and snow. We’ll have our ice competition starting on Friday and that concludes on Saturday. All in all, we’re going to have about 80 snow blocks throughout town and about 150 ice carvings.”

Wow…150 ice carvings and 80 snow sculptures.

“This will be our 34th annual. We have great entertainment from bands to kid shows and a warming tent. All in all, we think it’s going to be a great problem. This couldn’t be done without the help from a lot of people, local sponsors, major sponsors: Pepsi, Dow, Meijer, just to name a few. We really feel fortunate to have, for the last three decades, our vendors and sponsors continue to support the event. We’re excited. It’s always highlighted on Saturday, which is going to be Feb. 1. The fireworks is probably the most attended event that takes place. It’s approximately at 6:45 p.m. on Saturday.

Children tend to really enjoy the petting zoo, children’s pony rides, musical carousel, inflatables, frozen chicken bowling at the Frankenmuth Chamber Platz. That’s a fundraiser for the local Jaycee’s. There is a dog mushing exhibit.

Then, we also have, which is in our third season, next to Zehnder’s is the ice rink. Ninety-five percent of what we’re talking about is free to the public. About 5 percent is events that we do pay for but they are nominal fees. For example, I think the highest fee, if you want to do ice skating, I believe is $10. But to be in our warming tent for the entertainment after 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday it’s a fee of $5. It’s very,  very affordable and very, family orientated. We like to say it provides fun for the young and old alike from toddlers to grandma and everybody in between can come to Snowfest and have a great time.”

Many people are probably wondering…when does the snow and ice arrive?

“Well, we actually made snow. We have our own snow maker for Zehnder’s Snowfest. It has been very, very cold in Michigan. About 10 days ago we turned on the (snow) gun and let it run. We actually have somebody out in a truck watching the wind because we have to turn the gun to make sure it lands on the pile and not on somebody’s lawn or in the neighborhood. There’s a big pile in our parking lot right now. We will actually start setting up the snow blocks on Monday, Jan. 20th. It will take us about a week, four days to get everything set up. We have the world class double block, we have a world class single block, we have the high school competition and we have the State of Michigan. It is about 65-70 blocks we’ve got to set up.

Then, we ordered the ice already. They started making some of the ice carvings for our logo pieces. We’ll put those on display Thursday, Jan. 30. Then, the ice for the ice competition goes in a truck and we’ll keep it in a storage area until Jan. 31. It’s almost kind of a build-up to the weekend. Although we officially start on Wednesday, the bulk of our activities is going to take place on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.“

OK. When would the snow and ice carvings get underway?

“Well, the world class we start on Wednesday. You’ll see a clay model to get an idea of what they are building. They will really start taking shape around Thursday. They have to be done by Saturday morning at 10 a.m. So a lot of people that come in like to see the progression. But everybody is going to have a 3D model or clay model or drawing of what they are doing. It’s a lot of snow and it takes days.”

Please tell me more about the large ice piece that is generally under a tent.

“That is our exhibition piece that is sponsored by Pepsi. This year’s theme is “An Interactive Arcade.” There is going to be an ice air hockey game, there’s a couple of chess boards, checkerboards, a toboggan you can sit on. What we’ve tried to do with the 100 multi-block piece carving is we like to make it a great picture opportunity for people. Obviously with social media people are going to have their cameras out. People can feel and touch what’s going on. It was very, very important for us to make that sculpture very interactive. It is going to be the highest area of photos taken throughout Snowfest. We actually have a Snowfest photo contest. Anyone can enter, we judge it and people seem to get a lot of fun out of that. We try to make it where people can do more than just look around and do things.”

I understand the Zehnder’s Snowfest also works with the local schools in the mid-Michigan area.

“We have a children’s division where we show them the art of snow sculpting. We show them the basics. We have over 300 kids coming in on Wednesday and Thursday. We have about seven small blocks that they can work on. They can make like a cake or a slice of cheese, real simple stuff. It’s more or less getting them involved and showing them how they can become world class snow sculptors in the next 20 years or so. It’s really fun. Art teachers love it, kids love it so it’s a great opportunity to get young people involved in this type of art form.“

Please tell me more about the live entertainment that will be featured in the warming tent. 

“We’ve got live entertainment starting on Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It’s called The Halsey Old Timers. We’ve got Zehnder’s Bingo. We have about 250 people that love coming to Bingo. We’ll do that Thursday. But Friday is considered country night. From 11:30 to 2 p.m. we have The Swift Brothers, from 3 p.m. to 4:30 we’ve got the U.S. 338th Army Band country concert, WKCQ is doing a line dancing contest and from 8 p.m. to midnight we have a group called Shiatown.

On Saturday, we duplicate it, that’s our classic day. We have entertainment starting at 9:30 in the morning with the U.S. 338th Army Brass & Wind Ensemble then from 10 a.m. until 11, they do a patriotic concert. That’s really popular. We have a lot of veterans that come to that. It’s very emotional for a lot of people. They do a fantastic job. From 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., we have magic shows. From 11:30 a.m. to 3:30, we have music by Stone Street Revival. Then from 8 p.m. to midnight it’s called The Rock Show. They do a great job, they’ve been with us for many, many years.

Then, on Sunday, we have live entertainment going on as well. That takes place from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. There’s a group called The Saucecats. From Friday, Saturday and Sunday, it’s pretty much nonstop. We anticipate to have about 100,000 to 125,000 people at the event.”

Artists working on their ice carvings at the 2024 Zehnder’s Snowfest. (Jerome Rzucidlo/AmericaJR)

I understand you’ve got snow and ice carvers coming in from all over the world.

“Our carvers are very nice and very open to talking about how they got into it. Again, it’s all about the experience. Our carvers help highlight that experience because they are very engaging. We have a team from Mexico and a team from Argentina. But we have had people participate in Snowfest from all over the world. From China to Russia to Germany to France to England. I think the most unique sculptors we’ve ever had was a team of people from Morocco. Everybody’s like, how do they carve snow in Morocco? Well, they don’t but they are artists. They were into clay and a did a lot of pottery back in their home country. You have people who are very artistic and they are just using snow and ice as a medium but they are just as talented if they did a sand castle. You just have this group of very, very interesting artists. Some of them are architects. One gentleman, Al Foster, does drawings for General Motors. Then they just take that and put it into a snow form. It’s very difficult what they create. The ice and the snow are just the medium where they can express their artistic talent.”

Will there be Zehnder’s Snowfest merchandise such as t-shirts and sweatshirts for purchase?

“Yes, of course we always have to have retail available for people. We have people who have been coming for years. The big thing is always, what’s the Snowfest pin? It’s almost a replica of our iconic Zehnder’s sign that is out in front of our building. We posted it on Facebook and got so many comments. We know that people from over the years have been collecting every pin. The first year we didn’t have any retail things you can buy. There are going to be logo Snowfest shirts and sweatshirts in our food store/marketplace gift shop. The pins are available for sale.”

How many chicken dinners will be served at Zehnders and Bavarian Inn that week?

“Snowfest ranks annually in our top five busiest days. We’re figuring we’re going to serve Saturday 4,200 to 5,000 people. That’s a lot of chicken dinners. We’ll go through thousands and thousands of pieces of chicken. Bavarian Inn numbers will be different than ours. We have a little bit more capacity. They will serve close to 3,000 people.”

How does the weather impact Zehnder’s Snowfest?

“I learned a long time ago that I can’t worry about things I can’t control. Now, sometimes people say the colder the better because the blocks and the ice look better. I’ve been here when it’s 50 degrees and everything has melted, it’s still packed. I remember in 1999 maybe the high was like 3 degrees all weekend. It was cold. I can tell you what weather does. When it’s really, really cold, the crowds are smaller—only in the fact that toddlers and grandma/grandpa don’t come. Based on the forecast that I’ve seen, we’re in the mid 20’s to low 30’s, everybody’s coming. If I got to pick, I want a cloudy day because the sun doesn’t burn the ice. The weather—other than rain— doesn’t impact your snow. Rain is the worst thing that can happen because no one’s coming in the rain.”

You’re expecting a very large crowd so where is the best place to park and take a shuttle?

“That’s a great question. We always love having as many visitors as possible. We have the entire police department out there helping with traffic. We recommend shuttles from hotels in Birch Run. They drop you off right downtown. If you are driving yourself, we have complimentary shuttle from Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland. We know all of the parking between the restaurants by noon they’re gone. It’s interesting because people have figured out what to do. We shuttle our employees from a secondary parking lot. We try to make it as convenient as possible. The later you get here, the harder it will be to find a parking spot. It truly is a winter wonderland. I will only say we couldn’t have been doing this for so long, our 34th year, if people didn’t enjoy it.”

Any other final comments before we wrap up?

“We simply want to invite the public to come out. We look forward to having you with us. If you are suffering from cabin fever, and need to get out, we’ve got a great place for you to be at: Jan. 29 to Feb. 2 simply called Zehnder’s Snowfest. I always like to say, the worst thing you can do…you’re going to have a great meal. We’ll give you a great, family-style chicken dinner. We always tell people, if you go home hungry, it’s your own fault.”

Zehnder’s Snowfest offers free admission for everyone with some paid activities. For more info about the 2025 Zehnder’s Snowfest, visit: https://www.zehnders.com/snowfest/.

Click here for the complete 2025 Zehnder’s Snowfest schedule of events (PDF)


video by Jason Rzucidlo / AmericaJR

Stay with AmericaJR for more coverage from the 2025 Zehnder’s Snowfest…


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