A world record-breaking ice maze is planned for the Minnesota Vikings’ Eagan headquarters.

The new Minnesota Ice Festival welcomes the Minnesota Vikings to TCO Stadium, the Eagan home of the NFL team, featuring a world-record ice maze and spectacular events.

“We’re going to hit a home run this year and stop,” Minnesota Ice manager and owner Robbie Harrell said in an interview.
The ice in Minnesota hosted the maze of St. Louis, which built a maze on its Eagan campus in January.
Paul’s based company.
He plans to take it to the TCO outdoor stadium in 2024 and turn the event into a full-fledged festival.
This includes a Guinness World Record attempt for Buffalo’s largest ice maze.
It is scheduled to be closed in 2010.
Harrell said there are plans to open an 18,000-square-foot maze in Eagan. 5.
Buffalo’s Powder Keg Winter Festival was less than 13,000 square feet.
“We thought if we could bring it to TCO Stadium and put all our effort into everything else, we could get a world record,” Harrell said.
“Right now I feel like I’m on a mission to set as many world records as possible on the ice and that’s what I want to do.
Minnesota is notoriously cold.
That place is famous for ice cream.”

He assembled the necessary jury to go to Eagan in January.
He also promised that the maze will be bigger than it was in January, with more dead ends and sculptures. Tickets went on sale Saturday at www.mnicefestival.com.
“People who complain they didn’t get lost last year should get lost this year,” Harrell said.
“Adding an extra square foot makes it interesting.”

Located on campus south of Highway 494 and east of Dodd Road, the maze is the main attraction of the event, which runs through mid-February, weather permitting.
Kyle Chunk, general manager of Viking Lakes, a live-action game developer created by Vikings owners at the former Northwest Airlines world headquarters, said the ice event fits into the site’s goal of offering year-round activities.

The festival also builds on the Winter Skolstice event, which starts on Friday and runs until February.
The trees along the road and around the lake are already glowing with white light. Also unveiled were Barbies, monster trucks, a light tunnel and a mile-long light show that salutes various holidays.
The 30-foot-tall tree will be lit at 5 p.m. December 2.
Tickets for the Skolstice Mile Run are on sale at www.magicoflights.com/minneapolis.
The Viking Lakes Winter Markets also start on Fridays and run on weekends through February.
Chunk noted that the campus is mostly open and some activities are free, including ice skating, tree watching and dog walking around the lake.
“You don’t have to buy anything,” he said.
An ice rink, with warm houses, skate rentals, multiple fire pits, ice slides and an ice cannon that shoots fireballs into the air every few minutes, is also slated to open in January in the labyrinth. Two ice bars offer local bartenders, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, and 10 food trucks operating under stadium lights and big screens. There will be games and competitions.

“We go to anything.
“It’s the Minnesota Ice Festival.” Harrell said.
Purple faithful don’t have to worry about a football pitch supporting all their activities. Harrell said there are several layers of protection.
Festival workers first laid a layer of plastic and waterproof flooring, then plywood and 1,500 meters of gravel.
Then they build a maze, an ice rink, a boiler room and a bar.
Harrell, an ice cream entrepreneur, hosted the festival in Stillwater for several years, but the partnership ended abruptly a year ago, and he came to Eagan after a last-minute search for a location. Before deciding to return to Viking Lakes, Harrell looked at other venues for extended events, but felt the Vikings were home.
Harrell has been calling the 2024 festival for months, and the attendees are feeling it.
By 2024, we plan to use 2 million pounds of ice, up from 1 million pounds previously.
Another change: Harrell will drop its prices by $2 starting in 2023.
It will also sell one-day tickets and eliminate temporary registrations.
Admission is $19.99 for adults and $9.99 for children 10 and under.

Turnout was raised in 2023.
Harrell had expected 30,000 attendees, but 55,000 showed up, he said.

Harrell is also planning a dramatic ice sculpture competition where artists will be given 20 to 30 blocks of ice instead of the usual five to 10 blocks seen at other events.
Each block weighs 300 pounds.
The sculptor must work for five days and the retired painter pays the price.
“We have a lot of ice sculptor friends from all over the country, so people fly in and come visit us,” Harrell said.