Dowagiac Ice Time Festival Family Activities
Dowagiac’s annual Ice Time Festival will provide a blizzard of fun Saturday, February 7. The winter festival, a Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce event, will take place in the central business district, with some activities hosted by businesses in close proximity to downtown.
In addition to the pre-requisite carved blocks of ice, and other sculptural creations including a LEGO® City display, timber carving, live sculpture and a “gold stove”, the Ice Time schedule of events is snow packed with fun things to do—for free!
Miss Dowagiac 2026 and her Court of Honor will be at the Dowagiac Area History Museum from 10 a.m. to noon crafting Valentines with visitors. And then at 1 p.m. the Museum hosts a reception unveiling the newly acquired “Gold Stove”.
The Dowagiac District Library will be hosting an interactive viewing of the movie Frozen where kids can join in the fun with props and movement as the movie plays. Everyone is encouraged to come dressed as their favorite Frozen character. The movie starts at 10:30 a.m. and runs until 12:30 p.m. This is not a drop-in program, participants must register with the Dowagiac District Library.
The Dowagiac Union High School spring musical cast of Frozen, Jr will be at the Jim Snow Professional building from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. providing a photo opportunity with princesses and other beloved characters. Additionally, pre-event tickets will be available to purchase for the spring production taking place March 13, 14 and 15. Tickets are $10 each.
Bow Wow Bakery and Bath teams with Hidden Acres Safe Haven offering an opportunity to find a kitty to snuggle. They will be facilitating cat adoptions from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The Hot Spot returns with bonfire and s’mores provided by Dowagiac’s Department of Public Safety. Festival goers can enter the crowd favorite annual Frozen Fish Toss Open Competition. To enter, willing participants just need to arrive a little before noon on Commercial Street and bring a partner or pair with somebody in the moment to play,
Many specialty retail shops will offer winter clearance sales and specials as well as the Love is in the Air drawing for chances to win special offerings from each of the participating sites.
Seek snowflakes in the Snowflake Search Scavenger Hunt at participating retailers including Cottage Gallery, Deck the Halls, Isabella Grace, The Marshall Shoppe, Oh My Old Made New, Olympia Books, Rosy Tomorrows, and Who Knew Consignment. Find all eight hidden snowflakes and enter a drawing to win a $20 Universal Dowagiac Gift Certificate.
The annual Chili Crawl runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Guests can taste restaurant samples for free and vote for their favorite offering. Chili ballots will be available at participating restaurants, and event flyers with a map will be available at downtown businesses as well as online.
The Eagle’s Lodge will be competing in the Chili Crawl, and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. hosting a kids’ coloring corner (free) and, for adults, a Bloody Mary Bar (not free).
A free shuttle bus provided by Heritage Southwest Intermediate School District will transport people from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. from downtown to activities hosted by the Dowagiac History Museum and the Eagles Lodge.
For a full schedule of events visit DowagiacChamber.com/events or Facebook.
Corporate underwriters of the Ice Time Festival include Acrisure, Dowagiac Credit Union, Dowsett Chiropractic Health Center, Lyons Industries, Starks Family Funeral Homes/Clark Chapel, Who Knew Consignment and Xfinity.
