York Ice Trail 2026

We are pleased to announce the next York Ice Trail will take place on Saturday 7^th February and Sunday 8th February. 

The booking form is now open. To get involved, complete and send a copy to sales@makeityork.com.

Never seen the York Ice Trail? Check out the video below to give you a flavour of what you are missing.

#YorkIceTrail

Footfall counts reached over 85,000 visitors during the 2025 York Ice Trail weekend. Saturday footfall was up 10% compared to 2024, while Sunday footfall was up 58%! Visitors and residents discovered 30 maginificant ice sculptures dotted around the city.

The Ice Trail received PR in 73 articles, worth an estimated £239k. Our event webpages receive over 89.4k views plus the event has achieved over 583.2k impressions through social media, and over 18,000 pieces of engagement.

The York Ice Trail exists to:

• Create a free event for the city, appealing to York residents, students and visitors
• Move the audience around the city to areas of York they may never have been/ experienced before
• Boost the local economy through spending in local businesses
• Encourage repeat visits to the city after the event

The event is not only popular with visitors but we also welcome local residents with the 2025 event attracting a split of 66% visitors to 34% residents. The average party size visiting was 3, 79% were from Yorkshire. 75% also enjoyed visiting Cafe/Bar/Restaurant, with 54% shopping.

Being part of York Ice Trail is not only fun & creative, but can also increase footfall to your business guaranteeing a large audience for you to engage with. If you are looking for a different marketing opportunity that attracts thousands, this is the event for you.

If your business would like to join the trail please check out the sponsorship packages available below. We have three packages for you to choose from; Bronze, Silver or Gold. The only difference between the packages is the size/ detail of the sculpture you choose. We work with you to help choose the right sculpture and ensure you get the most out of taking part.

A spell has been cast and ice sculptures, alive with enchantment appear across the cobbled and narrow streets of the city. Sculptures inspired by magic, mystery, the weird and wonderful create an extraordinary trail. But who cast the spell? And why? Follow the trail. Uncover the truth. Before the ice melts—and takes everything with it.

• A choice of stunning Ice Sculpture design. Two identical bespoke sculptures are made, allowing a fresh sculpture to be available for each day of the trail no matter the weather!
• Your company logo contained within the sculpture base
• The sculpture can be positioned in a location useful to your business*
• Inclusion in over 25,000 printed York Ice Trail maps. These will be distributed at the Visitor Information Centre, York Park and Rides, Railway Station, Coach parks and businesses within the city. As well as digitally on the visityork.org website
• You will be included as a sculpture sponsor in all our promotional activity for the event, including social media

* Final decisions on all designs and placements will be made by the discretion of the Make It York team. All sculptures will be placed on raised pallets at ground level, unless specified. All sculptures must be located in an accessible area.

Early bird price (until 30 April): £1,900 + VAT

Price after April: £2,100 + VAT

For the Bronze package, you would receive an ice sculpture carved from one block of ice and displayed on an ice base with your logo inside. For these sculptures, one solid block of ice is used and do not need sections of ice to be fused together. This is the standard/ most popular sculpture package in the trail.

Early bird price (until 30th April): £2,500 + VAT

Price after April: £2,700 + VAT

For the Silver Package, sculptures would be made fusing multiple sections of ice together to create a more complex ice sculpture. These sculptures will be larger and take twice as long to create than the Bronze package sculptures. Silver sculptures will be heavy on detail, creating something even more impressive in detail, as well as size.

Early bird price (until 30th April): £3,400 + VAT

Price after April: £3,600 + VAT

For the Gold Package, almost half a tonne of ice is used to create something truly breath taking. These sculptures are much larger than both the Silver and Bronze packages. One of these huge sculptures will take two sculptors 2 to 3 days in a freezer to create. If you’re looking for something huge and detail orientated the Gold package is for you. These pieces will be approx. 1m wide x 2m tall.

We work closely with all sponsors to ensure we do not have duplicate or similar sculptures in the trail. Items can be placed inside, photo opportunities created - almost anything is possible! We love to create a wide variety of sculptures that the public enjoy.

1. Complete online booking form.
2. Send the booking form to sales@makeityork.com.
3. Make a deposit payment of 50% at the time of booking.
4. Submit assets (URL, social tags, high res logo).
5. Discuss sculpture design ideas & placement.
6. Make final payment (November 2025).

• Sponsorship Sign Up Deadline and Ideas Submitted - August 2025
• Mockups signed off Deadline - September/ Early October 2025
• Notification of Activations and Sculpture Name Deadline – November 2025
• Map Proofing Deadline - December 2025
• Public Press Launch and Map Release - Early January 2026

If you are interested in being involved in the York Ice Trail 2026 or have any questions please get in touch: sales@makeityork.com