Mayville, New York's annual winter festival kicks off tonight. And thin ice on Chautauqua Lake means there will not be a traditional ice castle.
However, volunteers decided there should be some sort of centerpiece for the festival. So they have built a snow castle featuring a slide for children.
A snow-making machine from Peek n' Peak helped to produce some of the snow. But the bulk of it was trucked in by volunteers from locations all around the Mayville area.
Chamber of Commerce President Ken Shearer said, "They hauled snow non-stop for 3 nights to the pile here. I'm not sure how many truck loads they had, but a lot of big dump trucks non-stop all night long so a lot of snow."
Organizers hope the annual festival will attract 5,000-6,000 people to Mayville for a wide variety of activities in Lakeside Park.