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Lake Placid, adirondacks, usa — Helicopter rides, ice bowling, snow sculpting and pond hockey will highlight the first annual Hockeyfest Weekend on Jan. 26-29 in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Hockeyfest has been introduced as a way to enhance the already-festive atmosphere of the annual CAN/AM Adult Pond Hockey tournament that occurs on a series of perfectly groomed rinks lined up on Mirror Lake in Lake Placid each year. 

“We wanted to create an even bigger event for the community this year that builds on the popularity of the existing Adult Pond Hockey tournament,” said Bob Murch, president of the CAN/AM Hockey Group that hosts over 25 events each year in Lake Placid. “Hockey Fest will include great spectator-friendly hockey at the Youth Challenge Cup in the Olympic Center and the rinks on Mirror Lake which will host 93 POND teams, plus a whole list of ancillary activities for the families of the athletes, other visitors staying in Lake Placid and the residents, too. Everyone in town this weekend are all encouraged to come out and enjoy the outdoors and activities planned.”

The action on Mirror Lake will include helicopter rides on Friday and Saturday, and family-friendly pickup games of broomball, ice bowling, Shinny and public skating on the lake loop ice track, along with public skating at the speed skating oval throughout the weekend. 

Nighttime activities for grown-ups will include a Pub Crawl on Thursday evening, with stops at The Cottage, Generations and the Lake Placid Pub and Brewery, and live music will be featured on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at Delta Blue, The Cottage and Generations. 

Perhaps one of the biggest highlights of the weekend will be the New York State 2017 Snow Sculpting Championship, which will feature teams from across the state sculpting 18-ton hexagon-shaped blocks of packed snow using only hand tools. 

Spectators can watch for free as the intricate snow sculptures are created over the course of four days, beginning Tuesday Jan. 24, in Lake Placid’s Municipal Parking Lot. All are invited to be part of the judging by voting for the “People’s Choice” winner, which will be included when the New York State Championship winners are announced in an awards ceremony on Saturday at 3 p.m.

For more information and a detailed schedule of events for Hockey Fest, visit lakeplacid.com/events. 

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