Erie's first Winter Carnival in Downtown Erie kicked off this week. The weekend festival is fully equipped with live performances, ice sculptures, and hot chocolate.

Perry square is lined with 60 ice sculptures of all sizes. Several of the large sculptures will be carved live Thursday and Friday.

In addition to the sculptures, local DJs and dancers will be performing. A small curling court is also at the festival for both kids and adults.

The Erie Downtown Partnership organized the Erie Winter Carnival. They tell us they’ve planning the festival for more than two years.

They say it's important to continue having carnivals and festivals like this not only to have fun, but also to bring more revenue in for downtown businesses.

“It’s really important to bring people down to go to businesses, check out new local vendors. There’s tons of great stuff happening downtown, and we’re just glad everything’s opening back up,” said Erie Downtown Partnership’s Events and Marketing manager, Dave Tamulonis.

The event will run all weekend. For a full schedule, click here.