During Tuesday’s Village Board meeting, officials approved a resolution to permit the construction of an ice castle in Lakeside Park with construction beginning next month. Chris Keefe and Nick Andriaccio shall oversee construction. All volunteers must sign a waiver holding the village harmless from any injury or loss due to their participation.

In addition, the village board entered into a standard concession agreement with Inspire Good of WNY, Inc. to hold a winter festival Feb. 14 to 16.

The CHQ Chamber was originally in charge of the ice castle construction and the winter festival that goes along with it, but they canceled it earlier this month, citing concerns of insurance costs and volunteers.

Many people in the community were caught off guard by the announcement and quickly regrouped to see if there was a way to bring the annual winter festival back.

OBSERVER Photo by Gregory Bacon The Mayville Village Board approved the construction of an ice castle and has authorized Inspire Good of WNY to hold a festival Feb. 14 to 16.

That’s when Inspire Good of WNY stepped forward.

According to its website, it is a Mayville-based not-for-profit organization that was established in April 2024 “by two women business owners who have a love of community and a desire to inspire good and give back. The mission started out as a dream and we decided in 2023 that we were going to take that leap and make it happen.”

The two women are Ariel Cartwright and Sorena Gilkinson.

Gilkinson was at Tuesday’s village board meeting and shared how a number of businesses wanted the festival to return. “With the upcoming winter festival, it was something that needed to be taken over because it was going to go away,” she said.

Because the festival is only four weeks away, Gilkinson said it will be a little bit smaller than in the past.

They’re not planning any “high risk” events, including the polar plunge, due to the tight timeline and the need for insurance.

The group was scheduled to meet Wednesday night to begin planning of the event.

It hasn’t always been cold enough to build an ice castle. The last two years there a wooden castle has been brought in for the winter festival celebration. But this year an ice castle appears more likely.

The village has already received more snow this year than they did all of last winter. As of Wednesday morning, Mayville had received 108 inches of snow. In the 2023-24 winter, the village had a total snowfall amount of 103 inches.