Welcome to another weekend, this one is going to be a fun one. It’s time to get up and get out of the house for the Iola Winter Carnival. There will be plenty of activities to keep you and your family busy. Get your family together and head to the small Norwegian town of Iola this weekend.
The carnival begins on Saturday, February 1st at 8:00 am for the ice sculpting contest. You will be able to find the ice sculptures on the corner of State Street and Chet Krause Drive in Iola. Once you are done looking at all of the beautiful ice sculptures, you can head over to Iola-Scandinavian High School for the indoor craft fair and lutefisk dinner. The lutefisk dinner is a traditional fish meal that is served in Norwegian communities. The indoor craft sale and lutefisk dinner both begin at 1:00 pm.
On Saturday afternoon, a cross-country skiing event called skijoring will be introduced to the winter carnival. Skijoring is a event in which a dog assists the cross-country skier navigate. The event will begin at 3 pm at the Iola Winter Sport’s Club. Then at 6 pm the twilight snowshoeing event will start with a 5K, 10K, and kid’s 800m races.
Starting on Sunday morning at 9:00 am the Nordic combined cross-country skiing event will begin. Then at noon on Sunday the USSA Ski Jumping event will take place at the Iola Ski Jumping Complex located 5 miles outside of Iola at E398 Country Rd. MM.
This weekend will be filled with fun in Iola. Cross-country skiing, ice sculpting, lutefisk meal, and many more activities will be happening this weekend. Head out to Iola and enjoy a weekend filled with winter fun. More information on the Iola Winter Carnival can be found here.