A Weekend of Fire and Ice
On Tuesday, Benito Villa, a founder of the Harborfrost festival, was en route to the Sag Harbor fire marshal’s office to request that ice sculptors be granted last-minute permission to set fire to their sculptures, in keeping with this year’s “Fire and Ice” theme. Also freshly added to this weekend’s lineup — which includes a Grucci fireworks display and live music, in addition to the artwork in ice — was an icy ring toss using glow-in-the-dark necklaces that participants will be encouraged to wear into the evening.
“The town will be glowing,” Mr. Villa said.
Sag Harbor Village merchants, competing for a prize for the best promotion, will be offering “Fire and Ice” specials and giveaways.
On Saturday, several restaurants will serve $20.12 meals. The live music options that afternoon will include the Peter Weiss Trio at BookHampton at noon; Robert Bruey at Sylvester & Company at 12:30; Harly Lancia at LifeStyle at 1; the Alfredo Merat Duo at the Grenning Gallery at 1:30; the Vanessa Trouble Quartet at BookHampton at 2; Hopefully Forgiven at Romany Kramoris at 4:30, and Mariann Megna at Page at 63 Main at 4:30.
Charitable opportunities have been sprinkled throughout the weekend, as well. These include a “frosty plunge” at 3:30 p.m. Saturday to benefit the ambulance corps; a gala benefit on Friday night at Page restaurant for Youth Advocacy Resource Development, which provides recreational activities for students who do not play sports, and a quiz night fund-raiser at B. Smith’s on Saturday to raise money for the Booster Foundation, which supports music and sports programs. There will also be a restaurant crawl to support a local community member or family in need.
Fun-house castle sculpting begins on the Long Wharf at 3 p.m. Saturday. At the other end of Main Street, at the Civil War monument, games will start at 4. Back at the wharf, at 5:45, there will be a performance by the Fiery Sensations. The fireworks are at 6:15.
Hot soup from Phao, tastings at Sag Harbor Liquors, turkey chili and spiced tea from Brown Harris Stevens, and appetizers and sweets from the soon-to-open Muse restaurant are among the giveaways to be enjoyed. Along with hot showers for the frosty plungers, Hampton Gym Corporation is offering a free candlelight Pilates class at 4 p.m. Among the entries competing for best promotion honors are an art exhibit at Prudential Douglas Elliman; a 50 percent off sale at Satori boutique; 75 percent markdowns at LifeStyle, and Geek Hampton’s offer of “20.12 percent off a Macbook Pro or Ipad case.” Many businesses are also raffling off prizes.
Events geared toward children include free snowman-puppet making at 3:45 p.m. Saturday, and puppet shows at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., at Goat on a Boat Puppet Theatre. The Bay Street Theatre will show cartoons from 3 to 6 p.m., with no charge.
Brandon Hallman, general manager of the Romany Kramoris Gallery, said there were “lots of crowds” for last year’s Harborfrost festival (as well as the Sag Harbor American Music Festival). This year, the gallery will sponsor live music for the first time, in addition to offering a make-your-own-valentine workshop in the studio behind the gallery from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday.
Harborfrost came to life when Mr. Villa joined the Sag Harbor Chamber of Commerce and came across paperwork for a winter carnival plan that had fallen to the wayside, due to lack of funding. He took charge of securing the founding sponsors — The Sag Harbor Express, Hampton Gym Corporation, Brown, Harris & Stevens, Prudential Douglas Elliman, and Save Sag Harbor — to cover expenses of the ice-sculpting and fireworks. Once the core sponsors were on board, Mr. Villa said, other businesses pitched in to help with advertising, insurance, and the sponsoring of musicians.
Kelly Connaughton, the co-founder of last September’s inaugural Sag Harbor Music Fest, was asked to help book Harborfrost’s musicians and procure sponsorship from various shops and venues. In an interview on Saturday, she said that these special events are a great way to sustain local businesses. “It is vital to our community to do things outside of the summer season,” she said.
Off-season attractions, Ms. Connaughton added, are also appreciated by local working people, who are often too pressed for time to attend summer events.