PHOTO ESSAY: Snowman carving kicks off Dartmouth ice festival

Sculptor Richard Chiasson took a chainsaw to a block of ice to jumpstart the festival Friday.

By Elena Neufeld
4 min read
a man wearing a blue hat and glasses chips away at an ice block using a metal tool, he is wearing blue gloves.
caption Richard Chiasson chips away at the hat of what will soon be a snowman made of ice at Alderney Landing in Dartmouth on Jan. 31, 2025.
Elena Neufeld

Veteran ice carver Richard Chiasson kicked off the Dartmouth Ice Festival Friday with a sculpting workshop at Alderney Landing.

Chiasson has been carving ice for more than 45 years and supplies the ice used for the sculptures that are being created at events over the weekend. He begins preparing the ice for the festival as early as July.

“I just do this as a hobby,” said Chiasson. “I love spending the weekend in Dartmouth and engaging with the public.”

Chiasson is chief instructor at the New Brunswick community college campus in Grande-Anse, N.B. 

He began his career in culinary work and got his start one New Years Eve when the chef at a hotel he was working at told him he needed an ice carving for an event. He told Chiasson to go out and not come back until he was done doing one.

Since then, he has made carvings more than three metres tall. He started off the festival Friday with a snowman sculpture and walked through his process with NSCAD students who are participating in this weekend’s sculpting.

The festival runs until today.

a man takes a chain saw top a block of ice while he is surround by people watching him work.
caption Richard Chiasson takes a chainsaw to a block of ice at Alderney Landing in Dartmouth.
Elena Neufeld
a man rests on his knees, shaving away ice on a large block using a power tool.
caption Richard Chiasson takes an angle grinder meant for wood working to the ice block to smooth out the rough edges of his sculpture at Alderney Landing in Dartmouth.
Elena Neufeld
A close up of a blue pair of gloves grinding away the ice as a man sculpts a snowman out of an ice block.
caption Snow flies as Richard Chiasson makes a snowman takes shape at Alderney Landing in Dartmouth.
Elena Neufeld
A na wearing a blue hat, black jacket, and green pants kneels in front of a block of ice and carves away at it using an orange and white chain saw.
caption Richard Chiasson takes a chunk out of the ice using a chainsaw as he sculpts his snowman at Alderney Landing in Dartmouth.
Elena Neufeld
A man drills into a block of ice creating a snowman. He is wearing a black jacket and blue gloves.
caption Using a small power tool, Richard Chiasoon cuts out the fine details in his snowman at Alderney Landing in Dartmouth.
Elena Neufeld
A man carves a smile into a snowman made of ice with a power tool.
caption Richard Chiasson gives his snowman a face using a fine detail power tool at Alderney Landing in Dartmouth.
Elena Neufeld
A man in a blue hat, black jacket, and green pants holds a metal tool used to carve ice. He stands beside a snowman made of ice.
caption Richard Chiasoon poses with his finished snowman ice sculpture at Alderney Landing in Dartmouth.
Elena Neufeld

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About the author

Elena Neufeld

Elena Neufeld grew up on a farm near Margaret, Manitoba. She loves photography and film and is a member of the UKC women's volleyball team.

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