Event to have many new events, including fireworks

The Big Freeze has doubled its locations and close to doubled its offerings this weekend for the ninth annual winter event.

The location addition means Broadway will be closed from William Street to Clark Street for the afternoon and evening Saturday in an effort to showcase Albert Lea’s downtown for extra traffic as well as locals. The Big Freeze coincides with the Super Bowl and a weekend hockey tournament.

“This was really a good fit for the community,” Albert Lea Fire Department Capt. Scott Hanna said of the weekend.

Hanna also said the diversity of events could mean an opportunity for the various interests in the community to come together and attend events they may not have considered before they were put together.

Part of the challenge of putting these events together, Hanna said, is coming up with what will be a good fit and to gauge what the community will support.

“We’ve really broadened the activities to appeal to different age groups this year,” Big Freeze committee member Sarah Hensley said.

Some of the additional events include a peek at vintage snowmobiles, a foam finger craft, a bean bag tournament, live music and the Lime Tree Circus.

This is also the first year for the Minnesota hotdish cookoff. As of Wednesday, Big Freeze committee member Sarah Hensley said there was interest but little confirmed participation in the event.

The evening will also feature a winter fireworks show for the first time in Albert Lea since 2006, ahead of the sesquicentennial, Convention and Visitors Bureau Executive Director Susie Petersen said.

“I think over the frozen lake, it will be really, really cool,” Hensley said.

The show is expected to last eight to 10 minutes.

Additionally, the weekend will feature a display from the Minnesota Kite Association for the first time this year.

Petersen said the goal every year for the Big Freeze is to fill the food shelf.

For others, it is also a chance to get outside.

“There’s fun to be had in the winter as well as in the summer,” Hensley said.