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Children pose for a photo taken by their mother during the Fire and Ice Festival held at The Shops at Riverwoods in Provo on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023.

Sarah Hunt, Daily Herald

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Attendees pose for a selfie in front of one of the several love-themed backdrops at the Fire and Ice Festival held at The Shops at Riverwoods in Provo on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023.

Sarah Hunt, Daily Herald

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A child poses for a photo taken by his mother in front of an ice sculpture of Disney's Olaf the snowman, which is displayed at the Fire and Ice Festival held at The Shops at Riverwoods in Provo on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023.

Sarah Hunt

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Patrons enjoying the shopping and ice sculptures during the Fire and Ice Festival held at The Shops at Riverwoods in Provo on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023.

Sarah Hunt, Daily Herald

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Connor Ross sings during the Fire and Ice Festival held at The Shops at Riverwoods in Provo on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023.

Sarah Hunt, Daily Herald

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Chad Swan carves final details into his ice sculpture during the Fire and Ice Festival held at The Shops at Riverwoods in Provo on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023.

Sarah Hunt, Daily Herald

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Connor Ross swings his microphone at the end of a song performance during the Fire and Ice Festival held at The Shops at Riverwoods in Provo on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023.

Sarah Hunt, Daily Herald

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Patrons pass by the decorated gazebo during the Fire and Ice Festival held at The Shops at Riverwoods in Provo on Friday, Feb. 3, 2023.

Sarah Hunt, Daily Herald

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Friday night, families, couples and friends came out to participate in the 10th annual Fire and Ice Festival, hosted by The Shops at Riverwoods in Provo. Giant cutouts, live entertainment, photo backdrops and ice sculptures all followed the event’s theme of love, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

The shops at Riverwoods worked with the Food and Care Coalition to have attendees bring cans of food in exchange for a small gift. The food goes toward helping homeless and low-income residents.

“We love working with the Food and Care Coalition every year for this event,” said McKell Law, event coordinator for The Shops at Riverwoods. “We’re trying hard to beat our record this year, which is pretty big. The most we’ve ever collected at this event was 1,000 pounds.”

Professional ice sculptor Chad Swan brought five custom-made ice sculptures and added final touches during the event so attendees could see the process. The pieces ranged from a large heart-shaped flower vase with live roses placed in it to a large, arched sculpture with a cutout big enough for patrons to use as a photo frame for pictures.

“The great thing about ice is it’s really fun to carve in it with chisels when it’s bitter cold because the ice has a particular life to it that interacts with the tool. The detail just stays better,” Swan said.

“The Olaf one has been a lot of people’s favorites,” he added, referencing the snowman character from Disney’s “Frozen.” “I didn’t like the idea of Olaf with ice arms; I wanted them to be wooden like you see him have, and I think that detail just really added to it and drew people in.”

Live entertainment was provided by singer Connor Ross, who performed classic love song renditions by Michael Buble and Stephen Sanchez. DJ Tay and DJ Garrett played upbeat music in between Ross’ performances as they invited kids in the audience up to the front to compete in hula hoop and dance competitions.

Patrons enjoyed taking photos with large Valentine’s Day-themed backdrops and shopped during the festivities, enjoying special sales put on exclusively for the event.

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