An annual Clear Lake winter festival has been called off due to ice conditions on the lake. The “Color the Wind Kite Festival” was scheduled for this weekend at the downtown seawall, but ice conditions are not safe for kite flyers to go out onto the lake.
Organizers checked the ice on Sunday but then found many spots along the seawall were open water on Monday. Forecast temperatures in the mid to upper 30s on Tuesday and Wednesday were not going to help the condition of the lake, so organizers decided Monday to cancel the event.
The first Color the Wind festival was held at Clear Lake State Park in February 2002. The event has been held downtown in front of the seawall for a number of years to help accommodate the nearly eight-thousand visitors who usually attend the event.
By Bob Fisher, KRIB, Mason City