Alton Mill Arts Centre brings fun and flames to community at annual Fire and Ice Festival

February 5, 2026 · 0 Comments

By Riley Murphy

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

This past weekend marked the return of the annual Fire and Ice Festival hosted by the Alton Mill Arts Centre.

This year’s event featured outdoor fire performances, ice carving, fun family games, and, of course, the Big Burn.

Martin Kouprie, General Manager with the Alton Mill Arts Centre, said that this year’s festival was the biggest yet, with new elements never before had.

One of those features was the ice carving competition, where both a panel of judges and the crowd got to select and vote on their favourite sculpture of the weekend.

For Kouprie, he said finally getting to enjoy the festival is the easiest part.

They spend the whole year prior “getting their ducks in a row,” Kouprie explained, securing vendors, carvers, and funding to run the event, adding that they couldn’t have done the event without their sponsors.

This year, as always, he said he was looking forward to the Big Burn and to seeing who would come out on top in the ice carving competition.

Artists Paul Morin and Brian Oates have been the masterminds of the art behind Fire and Ice’s beloved burn sculptures for over a decade now, with their involvement going back to 2012.

Each year, as one fire becomes ashes, they begin planning for the following year.

“We learn from every fire,” said Morin. “We’ve always had some sort of sculptural element hidden inside that is revealed at the fire, and that’s been a fun thing. Usually, we keep it a secret.”

This year’s burn sculpture was titled “Obelisk Burn,” and standing tall in the middle was a large obelisk adorned in technological symbols.

“The original idea was that I knew I wanted an obelisk, because pre-dynastic Egyptians thought that an obelisk brought the energy of the cosmos, or the sun, to the earth,” explained Morin. “By making a physical manifestation of it, they guaranteed that warmth and the heat by making these incredible obelisks. I wanted to do that.”

He shared part of the reasoning behind it was to “bring some of the order of the outer cosmos into the terrestrial,” because he explained that many people feel “scattered and disorganized,” and “things are all in chaos right now.”

“This is helping bring a true intended thought of good energy from the cosmos to sort of bathe us all in that light,” he said, adding that not only would onlookers be in the light of the burn, but the light of the full moon as well.

Oftentimes, obelisks will feature hieroglyphics, but Morin took a modern approach.

“What symbols are more appropriate than technology in this day and age?” he said.

Those enjoying the burn could see the flame through the Wi-Fi symbols and pause buttons as it made its way from the inside of the obelisk to all-encompassing.

One of the features of this year’s burn sculpture was the metal cap adorning the obelisk, which Morin explained turned bright red when heated by the flame.

“We’ve always hidden the sculptures, but I wanted this to be an exoskeleton,” said Morin. “The goal is to make that [top] red hot in the night sky. So, in the middle of the winter, the coldest night, with a full moon and a red hot [top].”

There was something for everyone at this year’s Fire and Ice festival. Attendees could be seen skating on Mill Pond, enjoying the super snow slide, roasting s’mores, and enjoying the activity zone.

Inside, community members could wander the halls of Alton Mills and enjoy multiple vendors, artisan markets, the hot stove lounge, caricatures, and could even get their face painted.

Volunteers Sheila and Meg Grant have seen every year of the Fire and Ice Festival, joking that they “married into the Alton Mills.”

Brothers Jordan and Jeremy Grant are the two behind the restoration of Alton Mills, turning it into the beloved arts showcase in Headwaters that it is today.

Meg Grant said that after seeing 16 years of Fire and Ice Festivals, “it’s hard to stay away,” as she keeps coming back every year to help out.

“It’s such a great event. It really brings the community out, which is nice after they’ve all been huddled inside for a month after Christmas to get everybody out again,” she said.

Standing at the greeting booth, Sheila Grant added she loves “directing people to creative things that they wouldn’t normally explore.”

She noted those coming to the event are usually “community-minded, outdoor, fun people” and that they’re “the best people to welcome.”

Going forward, Kouprie said they look forward to making Fire and Ice “not just an Alton Mill event, but an Alton event.”

With their growth each year, they hope to expand the event into the Alton community, including more businesses and residents for years to come, he added.