Watch award winning ice carvers create beautiful designs live in Waterloo Public Square.
Award winning ice carvers Philippe Saraiva, Steven Benns, and Tyler Hayes will create three ice carvings in Waterloo Public Square. The carvers will use a variety of hand and power tools to carve beautiful sculptures into the 300+ lbs blocks of ice.
Phillipe Saravia is a Professor at Conestoga College. He started ice carving after taking a seminar with Steve Brice and Aaron Costic (two of the best ice carvers in North America) back in 2009 and been taking part in festivals around Ontario ever since. He has participated in Winterloo eight times and his carvings have been seen in many local events such as Oktoberfest.
He sees ice carving as a fun hobby that he highlights with his students when they need carvings for events at the college.
He loves the comradery among the carvers. In addition, it is a great challenge to work with this ephemera medium.
Chef/Professor– Fleming College
Some of the most memorable moments in Steven Benns’ life came from large family functions, where food brought people together. With an agricultural background and a long line of chefs in the family, he enjoyed and understood the need for high quality meals. Whether it was the fact, he loved to eat or seeing the smiles of family and friends, cooking was in his blood.
Steven has been a faculty member in the culinary arts department at Fleming College since2000. He challenges students to put the most into their education (and career goals) so that they may be successful in today’s marketplace. Part of Steve’s professional development plan is the artistic side of the culinary industry (that includes ice carving). He is able to hone his skills at college functions along with various competitions across Ontario.
He lives in Cavan, ON with his wife Amanda, their children Elizabeth and Reed and their cats Charlie & Beans.
Tyler first started carving snow in 1986 in Quebec City at the age of 18. In 1995, he met Master Ice Carver Perry Yuen from Hong Kong and learned many techniques from Perry over the years. For 18 seasons, Tyler carved for Team Canada at the Winterlude Ice Carving Competition in Ottawa. Tyles has carved for the 2001 Leafs Alumni, 2005 the Memorial Cup, Scott's Tournament of Hearts in London, Ontario and the 2010 Olympic Relay in St Thomas, Ontario. In 2011, Tyler was invited on-set to the film Total Recall Two to present Colin Farrell with an ice portrait of himself.