Saranac Lake Winter Carnival Starts Feb. 3

The Saranac Lake Winter Carnival began as an integral part of Saranac Lake's history as a renowned health resort. Back in the late 1800s, the village was a thriving logging community deep in the Adirondack wilderness. Its pristine setting provided healing and rejuvenation for hundreds of tuberculosis sufferers, particularly at the Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium. Here, many patients experienced a renewed passion for life, and took every opportunity in every season to explore the natural beauty that surrounded them. The long, cold Adirondack winters with snow-covered mountains and ice-encrusted lakes provided the opportunity to enjoy outdoor recreational activities such as skiing, sledding and skating.

In order to break winter's chill and to promote outdoor sports and games, the Pontiac Club was formed in November 1896, and a few months later, they sponsored a one-day fancy dress winter carnival in 1897, which was expanded into the Pontiac Club Carnival in 1898. The Winter Carnival has not been held every year. After a few years, it was held every other year. And there were huge chunks of years in the 1920s, 1930s and early 1940s when it was not held. However, it was resurrected in the winter of 1947-48 and has been held annually since that time. The Ice Palace, which had not been built since 1920, made a comeback in 1955.

The Winter Carnival has grown into a 10-day festival that includes sports, performances, two parades and three sets of spectacular fireworks. Over the years, the Winter Carnival has retained the warmth, charm and camaraderie of a community celebration. The Carnival – organized by an all-volunteer group called the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival Committee – is a community-driven festival made possible by the efforts of many volunteers and sponsors.

The Saranac Lake Winter Carnival Committee is pleased to announce that on Wednesday, February 8, 2023, from 5 – 7 p.m. the Ice Palace Hosts will welcome visitors for a very special "Family Night". Join them for a magical evening of beautiful colored lights at the Ice Palace. The Ice Palace Hosts are enthusiastic Carnival volunteers who enjoy greeting visitors at the Ice Palace, answering a myriad of visitor questions and taking thousands of pictures each year. They look forward to welcoming families to this new event at the Ice Palace. The Saranac Winter Carnival sponsor will be there providing cookies and hot chocolate.

The Carnival honors its heritage every year by building an Ice Palace from blocks of ice harvested from Lake Flower's Pontiac Bay, where carnival events have been traditionally held for generations. For more information, visit the Saranac Lake Winter Carnival website at http://www.SaranaclakeWinterCarnival.info. The 2023 Winter Carnival will take place February 3 to February 12.