SCRANTON, Pa. — It's going to be an icy start to the Scranton Ice Festival. Organizers tell Newswatch 16 the festival preparations had to be pushed back a bit on Friday.
"It's exceedingly ironic that ice is hampering our setup for the ice festival," said organizer Maggie Martinelli.
"Well, it's an ice festival, so it's appropriate," said Renato Luongo, owner of Abe's Deli in Scranton.
It was too icy to set up the ice sculptures Friday morning, but Scranton Ice Festival organizer Maggie Martinelli says she's just hoping everything will be ready in time for Friday night.
"We were like, 'Are we going to have to do the setup on Saturday and just lose Friday?' But the timing seems to be working out for us. Our fingers are crossed."
The forecast for the rest of the weekend looks chilly but ice-free.
Renato Luongo, owner of Abe's Deli on North Washington Avenue, hopes that means more foot traffic.
"Yeah, I think it will this weekend. Last year it did. So I think it'll be a good thing for downtown."
He'll have an ice sculpture outside his restaurant just like he did last year during the festival's first year.
"I think it's great to help small businesses. It was a tough year, a couple of years, I should say," Luongo added.
That's exactly why Martinelli started the festival in 2021. The money raised through donations goes directly to the Scranton Small Business Relief Fund.
"We had an amazing response from the community. We were so thrilled. I mean, I don't think we expected it to be as well attended and well supported as it was. So, of course, when it was so successful, l we knew we had to do it again this year."