Ice Worm Festival

Ice Worm Festival

First full weekend in February

This zany mid-winter festival celebrates the emergence of the ice worm in Cordova, Alaska, where the winters are long and dark and give rise to thoughts of things like ice worms. The highlight of the three-day festival is the procession of a 150-foot-long ice worm (it has a dragon's head) followed by 500 or so paraders. Other events include variety shows, ski events, a survival-suit race, a beauty pageant, music, and dances.
The celebration began in 1961 as a way to shake off the winter blahs, and the legend was born then that an ice worm hibernates during the winter in the Cordova Glacier but starts to hatch or wake up in early February. The worm has gained international fame, and the festival draws great crowds of people.

CONTACTS:
Cordova Chamber of Commerce
P.O. Box 99
404 First St.
Cordova, AK 99574
907-424-7260; fax: 907-424-7259
www.cordovachamber.com

SOURCES:
BkFestHolWrld-1970, p. 31
GdUSFest-1984, p. 8

Celebration days:
2011: Feb 5; Feb 6
2012: Feb 4; Feb 5
2013: Feb 2; Feb 3
2014: Feb 1; Feb 2
2015: Feb 7; Feb 8