MADISON, Wis. — The 14th annual Frozen Assets Festival returned to Madison earlier this month, drawing more than 1,000 people to celebrate a winter tradition that is growing increasingly uncertain.
“When our lakes are frozen, they are truly our greatest asset,” said James Tye, executive director and founder of Clean Lakes Alliance, the nonprofit that organizes the event. The city, perched on an isthmus between Lake Mendota and Lake Monona, has long built winter life around its ice: skating, ice fishing, ice sailing and snowshoeing are part of the local routine, and a history of commercial ice harvesting once made the lakes a center of winter activity, says limnologist Hilary Dugan of the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
But the lakes are changing. “We’ve actually lost about a month of lake ice duration here in Madison,” Dugan said, and warming winters mean the ice that does form is less predictable and not always safe. Those shifts forced last year’s festival to move ashore when unseasonably warm conditions made the surface unreliable.
This year, however, Lake Mendota froze solid enough in early February—more than a foot of ice in many places—to host the on-ice portion of the festival. Attendees found a full slate of activities: kite fliers and a skydiver over the frozen lake, ice hockey games, ice-fishing demonstrations, Indigenous traditional games such as snow snake, and the region’s only 5K run that takes place entirely on ice.
Science and safety were woven into the fun. Demonstrations measured ice thickness and explained lake ecology and safety practices. Runners warmed up and competed in the icy 5K, some racing on skates. Children chased a flotilla of fish and owl kites while anglers on Monona Bay tended holes, scooping slush and pulling up bluegill. Skydivers glided over the white expanse as volunteers and scientists talked with visitors about stewardship and what changing winters mean for recreation and ecosystems.
Organizers and researchers use the festival not just to revel in a seasonal blessing but to remind the community that those winters are shifting. The event showcases the cultural, recreational and ecological value of lake ice while underscoring how climate change is shortening winters and complicating long-standing traditions.
Photographs by Kayla Wolf for NPR captured the day: competitors racing across the ice, families learning about ice safety, Ho-Chunk Nation members teaching snow snake, skaters practicing on a hotel rink, and anglers posing with their catch. The images portray a community seizing a thickened but uncertain ice season—enjoying the moment even as the ice calendar moves later and grows shorter over time.