The continuing remake of Rice Park has prompted Winter Carnival officials to move the festival's centerpiece elements a few blocks away to the birthplace of St. Paul.
Officials announced the temporary move Thursday, adding that the carnival will return to Rice Park in 2020. Kellogg Mall Park, situated along the Mississippi River bluff downtown between Robert and Wabasha streets, is near the site where in 1841 Father Lucien Galtier placed the log chapel of St. Paul. The area had been called Pig's Eye, for saloonkeeper Pierre "Pigs Eye" Parrant.
"For more than a century, the Winter Carnival has maintained an amazing annual tradition in St. Paul," said Jennifer Tamburo, board chair of the Saint Paul Festival and Heritage Foundation, producer of the Winter Carnival. "This year, we'll have a new, temporary home that will bring our celebration closer to the Mississippi River. It is a chance to look at new and exciting ways to stage and plan the events and attractions that visitors to St. Paul expect from the coolest celebration on Earth."
Said City Council Member Rebecca Noecker, who represents downtown St. Paul: "It will give us a different way to experience the carnival and I am looking forward to seeing the amazing ice carvings next to our downtown riverfront."
Festivities that will move to Kellogg Mall Park include the Ice Carving Competition, the Winter Carnival Music Series and the Ice Bar.
The St. Paul Winter Carnival began in 1886 and is the oldest winter festival in the United States. It attracts more than 250,000 visitors a year and has an approximate $2 million to $3 million economic impact to the city and state, officials said.
To learn more visit wintercarnival.com.
James Walsh • 651-925-504
