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Saturday afternoon was the Fire and Ice Into the Night, and it allowed adults to go out and have fun shopping and enjoy the Downtown Alpena atmosphere. Annemarie Smith, the Alpena Branch Manager for Nicolet National Bank, said, “We were so excited to have this event down here. This is our second year of having the event here in Alpena, and yeah, just super excited that we’re here to provide this for the community to help sponsor it, just what Nicolet is all about and what Ice Fest is all about, just to get out in the community and have a great time and support.”

Annemarie Smith, the Alpena Branch Manager for Nicolet National Bank

Even though the warm weather put the heat on for the ice sculptures that started to melt. It brought tons of people into downtown, and local businesses enjoyed the chances to meet new customers. Griffin James, Co-owner of Cedar and Threads, said, “Even though it’s a little bit warmer today than it was last year, it’s been a huge outpour of people. I mean, I’ve seen people come in my shop today that I’ve never met before, that are from the Alpena area, that decide to come out. People are having a lot of fun, it’s a great time. People seem to be enjoying the ice sculptures in the community driven event here.”

The now annual festival is a big draw for Northeast Michiganders, and the event draws national and even international attention for all the fun it creates. James said, “Today, I mean, grant it, a lot of people from Alpena, Roger City, Hillman, Oscoda, and Tawas, but I did meet a woman from England today that was here in Alpena.” He said, “A handful of people from Arizona and a group of people from California, but it was nice to meet people kind of from all over the place here today.”