Fire & Ice Winterfest

Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, a natural spring resort town in Bannock County on Highway 30 along the Portneuf River, stages its annual Fire and Ice Winterfest across the first full weekend of February, with the 2026 edition running February 7 and 8. The event is a genuinely full-spectrum winter weekend rather than a single-afternoon gathering: two days of programming span beer tastings, wine tastings, a market fair, an evening parade of lights, a polar bear river float, a polar bear costume contest, fireworks, and an evening concert, all positioned against the town’s central identity as a natural hot springs destination. The coexistence of outdoor polar-bear cold-exposure events and immediate access to spring-fed pools heated to between 30 and 40 degrees Celsius is the organizing tension of the whole weekend, and it works.

Friday: Market, Tastings, and the Parade of Lights

Friday’s programme opens at noon with a Market Fair and food trucks at the Lava Hot Springs Community Center, running through 8 PM. At 1:30 PM, a craft beer tasting at Eruption Brewery and Bistro, hosted by Sam and Leisha Netuschil, runs until 3:30 PM. A wine tasting at the Lava Hot Springs Riverside Inn follows from 3:30 PM to 6:30 PM. The evening culminates in the Fire and Ice Parade of Lights at 7 PM, a community procession through the town’s compact main corridor that marks the transition from the market-and-tasting character of Friday afternoon into the more theatrical programming of Saturday.

Saturday: Running of the Bulls, the Polar Bear Float, and Live Music

Saturday opens with an American Legion Waffle and Sausage Breakfast from 8 to 11 AM at the Community Center. The Running of the Bulls follows, in which participants sprint in their swimsuits and conclude by jumping into the State Foundation Pools, a sequence that makes considerably more sense in Lava Hot Springs than it would almost anywhere else. The Polar Bear Float takes participants a quarter mile down the Portneuf River. The Polar Bear Costume Judging Party allows those who would rather be judges than contestants to participate with considerably less cold exposure. The Aaron Ball Band takes the outdoor stage at 8:30 PM, and fireworks launched from the city’s north side close the evening.

If You’re Going With Kids: The Children’s Water Carnival at the Lava Hot Springs Indoor Aquatic Center, for children aged 12 and under, runs during the event weekend and provides the family anchor around which the adult programming orbits. Combining a morning at the Children’s Water Carnival with an afternoon at the Polar Bear Costume Judging Party and an evening at the bonfire produces a full and varied Saturday for families traveling with multiple age groups. The town is small enough to walk all of its venues without a vehicle once you have parked.

The Hot Springs Factor

Lava Hot Springs draws visitors in every month of the year on the strength of its natural outdoor pools alone. The State Foundation Pools, spring-fed and maintained at temperatures between 30 and 40 degrees Celsius depending on pool section, sit in a river canyon setting that becomes significantly more dramatic in February when the surrounding landscape is frozen and the steam rising from the pool surface is visible from the road above. The indoor aquatic center operated by the town provides additional pool access during winter months. For travelers building a Lava Hot Springs winter weekend around the Winterfest, the Pocatello airport is roughly 50 kilometres to the north via Interstate 15 and Highway 30. Lake.com lists vacation rental options across southern Idaho for travelers wanting self-contained accommodations during the festival weekend.