Pictured is the ice castle in construction on the shores of Chautauqua Lake. Submitted photo

MAYVILLE — The shores of Chautauqua Lake offer some of the most stunning views in the area. This weekend, even in the heart of winter, that will be the case for another reason.

The largest ice castle Mayville has ever seen is set to be unveiled on Friday evening, thanks to the work of Mayville’s own Chris Keefe and a team of volunteers. The castle will be lit at a ceremony at 6 p.m. today.

“It’s going to be quite a show,” Keefe said.

Construction of the ice castle has been underway for over two weeks, with ice cut from Chautauqua Lake itself to be stacked on the shores for the castle to be assembled. Approximately 1,800 blocks of ice were harvested from Chautauqua Lake, weighing approximately 500 pounds apiece. The castle consists of three main structures – a courtyard and two fire pits that will be active throughout the weekend.

This year’s edition of the ice castle is the largest in the history of the annual festival, thanks to the efforts of many local volunteers and students, with an assist from Mother Nature providing favorable conditions.

More than 40 students from BOCES assisted a team of 18 adult volunteers to put the structure together. Students from Chautauqua Lake Central School also stopped by for several hours to pitch in.

“It’s just a super group of people that really put together an amazing structure together. It’s definitely the biggest ice castle that Mayville has seen,” Keefe said.

This year’s structure is not just the grandest castle that has ever been created at Mayville’s annual festival, it is also the first true ice castle at all since 2019. The past two years, due to a lack of snow during unseasonably warm winters, a wooden castle was used. In 2020 and 2022, the castle used a mixture of snow and ice. In 2021, the festivities were cancelled due to the pandemic.

Keefe said there are a few secrets the volunteers are keeping to unveil for the crowd on Friday.

“We really want to see what their reaction is,” Keefe said.

The plans for the annual Mayville Winter Festival were up in the air for several weeks. A few weeks ago, Chamber of Commerce President Daniel Heitzenrater announced that the annual festival, scheduled for this weekend, would not take place this year. A big factor in the decision was the cost of insurance for activities that are now deemed as high-risk.

Keefe said those comments “lit a fire” under him and many others throughout the community. Since then, the community came together and took on the responsibility of holding the festival itself. Not only has the ice castle been in the works since then, but many aspects of the festivities have been, as well.

“I reached out to a couple people that worked on it in the past. We approached the Village, and the Village decided to take it on. We put a group of volunteers together and this is where we’re at,” Keefe said.

This weekend’s festivities include a medallion hunt, a selfie contest, a karaoke contest, an antique road show, and face painting. Fireworks will be shown on Saturday at 8 p.m.

For those feeling inspired by the ice castle construction, a contest will be held for members of the community to construct their own snow sculptures.

From the volunteers offering their help with the structure to those who provided coffee and meals to the volunteers, Keefe credits the whole community for coming together to make the ice castle the best it has ever been.

“I’m amazed at the community and the support that everybody has given,” Keefe said. “… I just think it’s awesome that this community has stepped up to the plate like this.”