LEWISBURG, Pa. — Thousands of people are expected to come to Union County for the 20th Heart of Lewisburg Ice Festival.
Dozens of ice sculptures line Market Street in Lewisburg as part of the festival.
Erin Kerstetter and her daughter Leighton want to see them all.
"Leighton loves coming to look at the ice. Last year, she loved the cookie monster. This year I think the Black Dog Jewelers, the dog with the scarf is her favorite."
The Heart of Lewisburg Ice Festival is a tradition in Union County and is expected to bring thousands of people to the community this weekend.
"People eat in our restaurants, shop in our small businesses, support our downtown, put money in the meters so they don't get tickets. These are all ways to benefit our community," said Lewisburg Mayor Kendy Alvarez.
Many businesses participate in the festival by sponsoring an ice sculpture.
"We have people open the door and yell back, 'Love your ice sculpture!' People are out there taking pictures next to it," said Barbara Bilger, co-owner of Stein's Flowers and Gifts.
Stein's Flowers and Gifts sees extra foot traffic this weekend.
"We have people coming from all over. They stop in here, 'I never knew you were here.' It gives us great exposure. Even if it's not a big sale day, it helps us to draw people in for the future."
The main attraction is the live ice carving. This year, five sculptures will be carved live throughout the weekend.
"A nice time to come and walk around and go in the stores and look at things. People are so friendly, and we really enjoy it," Nancy Slease said.
A few blocks away at the Donald Heiter Center, it's all about chocolate. The nonprofit's biggest fundraiser of the year takes place this weekend and includes a gala, chocolate flights, chocolate tours, an online auction, and a 50/50 raffle.
"Include the downtown businesses and create events that really bring people into their shops. It allows us to have flights for families who can't get downtown, or people can take chocolate to work. It allows for the gala, people who want the big extravagant event," said Andrea Tufo, Donald Heiter Center executive director.
The event, which runs hand in hand with the ice festival, allows the Donald Heiter Center to maintain programs for children.
"It allows us to make sure those fees are affordable for working families. It allows us to make sure we have expanded hours for working families."
A popular ice festival event is the Frosty 5K, which draws more people each year.
The Frosty 5K is organized by the Lewisburg Sunset Rotary Club. Half of the proceeds go to that group, and the other half will go to a charity of the Rotary Club's choice.
"We don't have one quite identified yet, but with the success that we're having, we might do two," said organizer Rick Wible.
Another big event this weekend is the Polar Bear Plunge.
"We have more people with costumes, more people celebrating the river, more people doing it in groups. We will possibly have more than 200 plungers this year and 1,000 people coming to partake in the event," said organizer Gary Hardcastle.
The Polar Bear Plunge benefits Lewisburg Neighborhoods, which is involved in revitalizing Lewisburg.
The festival also features a sip-and-stroll event and a chili cookoff.