By all accounts, it appears the third year of the Ice “Burg” Festival exceeded expectations.
The one-day social event took place Feb. 28 in downtown Vicksburg.
During the village council’s March 2 meeting, village Manager Jim Mallery said he was proud of many things associated with the event. One in particular, he noted, was the partnership with local businesses and Chamber of Commerce for their support of Ice “Burg” Festival and all village-hosted special events.
He acknowledged Mike Moore, who organized the 2026 event.
Moore told commissioners that a slider competition proved to be a hit, as he exhausted all 300 tickets for the right to sample product from any of the eight slider contestants as well as cast a vote to determine the best slider.
“I think it went really well, and a huge shout-out to DPW and the police for helping control the crowd, and making sure everything went smoothly and set up properly,” Moore said. “Also, we had five contestants for the outhouse races, which was great for our first year. It was a huge hit, everybody was very excited about it and there was a nice crowd on both sides of the street for it.”
Moore also recognized fire department personnel for helping make s’mores.
“I talked to a couple of businesses already and they had a great day,” he said. “Lash and Line (Loft eyelash salon) opened for their first day that day and they said they signed 20 new clients just on that one Saturday.”
He continued with the accolades.
“Everybody had a good time … it really went well and a huge shout-out to the downtown businesses that were able to help, too,” Moore added. “It was nice to see them take ownership of the event and help out.”
Council member Gale Reisterer said she arrived at noon and stayed until about 3:30. Echoing Moore’s observation, Reisterer called the outhouse races “a huge success.”
“Everybody was cheering them on … it was just a really, really nice day,” she said. “At about 1:30, they announced all the (slider) tickets were sold so I thought anybody who came after that was going to be a little disappointed because they weren’t going to be able to buy a ticket. But I thought that was amazing that (the tickets) were sold out so early in the day.”
Moore said there was a cap on the number of tickets available so participating restaurants had a rough idea how much inventory to have on hand.
Riesterer said many of the people she talked to during the event were from outside Vicksburg. Several said they attend every special event the village hosts and Burg Days of Summer continues to be the most popular attraction, based on feedback she has received.
Back to the slider competition, Judge’s Choice and People’s Choice went to Lou’s Market. Second place was awarded to the Hideaway and third place went to Vickers.
“China One got in this year and they had not participated before, so it was really great,” Moore said.
Council member Chad Kissinger said he had out-of-town family visit for the day and everyone had a positive experience.
“I feel like it is the unofficial – but should be the official – kickoff of our season here as we’re going to have another event in a couple of months and then right into ‘Burg Days and then (Vicksburg Old Car Festival),” he said. “We are a busy little village in the summer months. We take full advantage of that.”
Kissinger’s reference to an event in a couple of months is the “Burg’s 153 1/2 Birthday Bash.” It is May 16 downtown.
