The St. Paul Winter Carnival: Hope It's More Wintery Next Year
Last Saturday (January 28), Berna and I went to the St. Paul Winter Carnival. After the Minnesota State Fair, this was the event I was looking most forward to, both because I thought it would be really fun and make for a great blog entry. Unfortunately, Minnesota had its warmest January in 160 years, and it was 40 degrees out while we were at the Carnival. Instead of a winter wonderland it was a muddy mess.
I did take a ton of pictures, but I have decided not to to a full-blown post on the Winter-Carnival-that-felt-like-spring. Instead I will just note a few highlights, and post a couple pictures from Winter Carnivals past, and hope that we get to experience a "real" Winter Carnival next year.
One thing I was looking forward to was the ice sculptures. Minnesota tourism displays always include a shot of the ice sculptures from the Winter Carnival. And the biggest one of all is the ice palace. The ice palace is more of a building than a sculpture: They actually use cranes to pile huge blocks of ice on top of one another, and you can actually walk through the palaces. St. Paul built the biggest ice palace in the word in 1992, when the city hosted the Super Bowl.The palace was 15 stories high:
The most recent ice palace was built in 2004:
And this is a tradition that goes way back. Here's a picture of the 1887 ice palace:
There was of course no ice palace this year, but the ice sculptors were out, valiantly carving away despite the 40 degree temperature. It was both inspiring and depressing to see them crafting these amazing sculptures that began melting away before they were even finished. Again, I have a ton of pictures, but none of them really capture the moment.
After we had watched the ice sculptors for a while, the parade began. There are two parades for the St. Paul Winter Carnival, and both of them are directly tied to the mythology of the carnival, which, next to the ice sculptures, is the coolest thing about the carnival.The first parade (the one that we saw) is the King Borealis parade. The night before the parade, two citizens of St. Paul are recognized for their contributions to the community by being coronated as King Borealis and the Snow Queen (traditionally a middle-aged man and a comely young woman -- did I mention I also like the lack of political correctness in St. Paul?). Dozens of other "members of the Royal Family" are also chosen -- whether via election or various contests, including singing contests or beauty pageants. These members of the Royal Family include the Prime Minister, the Royal Guardsmen, the Prince and Princess of the North Winds, the Prince and Princess of the South Winds, the Prince and Princess of the East Winds, the Prince and Princess of the South Winds, and Klondike Kate. Each one of these members of the Royal Family has their own float in the parade.
Then the following Saturday they have the second Winter Carnival Parade -- the Vulcan Victory Parade. The "Vulcan Krewe" are the rivals/enemies of King Borealis. They have a Fire King, Vulcanus Rex, they dress all in red, and they don't like winter. In the legend (which is reenacted at the Carnival), they confront King Borealis, and he agrees to leave St. Paul until next year. Their victory parade is a celebration that most of winter is passed, and spring and summer are on their way. In real life, the Vulcan Society is a cross between a civic and parade-planning organization and a social club. They do a lot for the community, of course, but come Winter Carnival time they also do a lot of drinking and mischief-making. For example, B was at a restaurant in St. Paul with some friends from work the Friday before the King Borealis Parade, and during her meal one of the Vulcan Krewe walked into the restaurant, blew a fog horn, and ran out. Throughout the two-week-long carnival, the Royal Guardsmen literally have to guard King Borealis against the Vulcan Krewe's pranks.
Anyway, I was just fascinated at all the tradition surrounding this parade mythology. You can read all about it here. Of particular interest is the position of Klondike Kate, which is awarded through a singing contest. This year's Klondike Kate is actually Berna's coworker's chiropractor's receptionist! I'm not kidding.
You can read more about the St. Paul Winter Carnival at its official site, or you can check out this guy's site -- he's got a lot of great photos of past ice palaces, and even a few photos of this year's ice sculptures.
I did take a ton of pictures, but I have decided not to to a full-blown post on the Winter-Carnival-that-felt-like-spring. Instead I will just note a few highlights, and post a couple pictures from Winter Carnivals past, and hope that we get to experience a "real" Winter Carnival next year.
One thing I was looking forward to was the ice sculptures. Minnesota tourism displays always include a shot of the ice sculptures from the Winter Carnival. And the biggest one of all is the ice palace. The ice palace is more of a building than a sculpture: They actually use cranes to pile huge blocks of ice on top of one another, and you can actually walk through the palaces. St. Paul built the biggest ice palace in the word in 1992, when the city hosted the Super Bowl.The palace was 15 stories high:
The most recent ice palace was built in 2004:
And this is a tradition that goes way back. Here's a picture of the 1887 ice palace:
There was of course no ice palace this year, but the ice sculptors were out, valiantly carving away despite the 40 degree temperature. It was both inspiring and depressing to see them crafting these amazing sculptures that began melting away before they were even finished. Again, I have a ton of pictures, but none of them really capture the moment.
After we had watched the ice sculptors for a while, the parade began. There are two parades for the St. Paul Winter Carnival, and both of them are directly tied to the mythology of the carnival, which, next to the ice sculptures, is the coolest thing about the carnival.The first parade (the one that we saw) is the King Borealis parade. The night before the parade, two citizens of St. Paul are recognized for their contributions to the community by being coronated as King Borealis and the Snow Queen (traditionally a middle-aged man and a comely young woman -- did I mention I also like the lack of political correctness in St. Paul?). Dozens of other "members of the Royal Family" are also chosen -- whether via election or various contests, including singing contests or beauty pageants. These members of the Royal Family include the Prime Minister, the Royal Guardsmen, the Prince and Princess of the North Winds, the Prince and Princess of the South Winds, the Prince and Princess of the East Winds, the Prince and Princess of the South Winds, and Klondike Kate. Each one of these members of the Royal Family has their own float in the parade.
Then the following Saturday they have the second Winter Carnival Parade -- the Vulcan Victory Parade. The "Vulcan Krewe" are the rivals/enemies of King Borealis. They have a Fire King, Vulcanus Rex, they dress all in red, and they don't like winter. In the legend (which is reenacted at the Carnival), they confront King Borealis, and he agrees to leave St. Paul until next year. Their victory parade is a celebration that most of winter is passed, and spring and summer are on their way. In real life, the Vulcan Society is a cross between a civic and parade-planning organization and a social club. They do a lot for the community, of course, but come Winter Carnival time they also do a lot of drinking and mischief-making. For example, B was at a restaurant in St. Paul with some friends from work the Friday before the King Borealis Parade, and during her meal one of the Vulcan Krewe walked into the restaurant, blew a fog horn, and ran out. Throughout the two-week-long carnival, the Royal Guardsmen literally have to guard King Borealis against the Vulcan Krewe's pranks.
Anyway, I was just fascinated at all the tradition surrounding this parade mythology. You can read all about it here. Of particular interest is the position of Klondike Kate, which is awarded through a singing contest. This year's Klondike Kate is actually Berna's coworker's chiropractor's receptionist! I'm not kidding.
You can read more about the St. Paul Winter Carnival at its official site, or you can check out this guy's site -- he's got a lot of great photos of past ice palaces, and even a few photos of this year's ice sculptures.
posted by James at 9:12 AM
1 Comments:
This year's Klondike Kate is actually Berna's coworker's chiropractor's receptionist!
Wow, it's almost like they're married!
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