CAMDEN — Baby, it's cold outside. But, who cares? The January sun is warm, the ice is smooth, and music is playing. In the Camden Amphitheatre, artists were at work all day Jan. 26 with chisels and picks, lathes and saws, carving ice sculptures that sparkled and glowed. Skaters glided around the rink, and there was a mess of soup and hot dogs to keep everyone warm.

The 11th annual Winterfest, organized by the Winterfest Committee, was celebrated under cloudless skies and temperatures that almost broke 20 degrees. The centerpiece of the Winterfest is the Community Ice Carving Event, which draws teams that represented nonprofits, businesses or just community groups. Carvers set to work on large blocks of ice that were delivered to the amphitheatre four days prior, and had no problem being kept cold, given the subzero temperatures of last week.

Winterfest is, in part, a revival of the Camden Winter Carnival. The carnival was celebrated at the Camden Amphitheatre and the Snow Bowl in the late 1930s and was discontinued in 1941. The idea of reviving these winter festivities grew out of two events that have proven to be hugely important to the vitality and health of the Camden-Rockport community: the Five Town Study Circles and the restoration of Camden Harbor Park and Amphitheatre.

Inside the Camden Public Library, there was more music with the band "All that Jazz", stories and crafts for children.

The Amphitheatre is home to the ice sculptures for several weeks after the event in the Winter Ice Garden.

Live music in the amphitheatre was provided by fiddlers, DJ Terry Frank of Global Grooves, and singer-songwriters Hazel Delehey and Clio Berta, both of Camden.

(Thanks to Charles Gale, of Camden, for sharing his photos of Winterfest)

Editorial Director Lynda Clancy can be reached at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 706-6657