Cold weather is here, and so are the official buttons for the 2025 St. Paul Winter Carnival.

The four buttons, designed by local artist and snow sculptor Heather Friedli, were unveiled Saturday night at the annual tree lighting ceremony at Union Depot.

Artist Heather Friedli. (Emily Urfer / Pioneer Press)

Friedli, predominantly an oil painter, runs Friedli Gallery and Studio on West Seventh and is a member of Team Kwe, which she said is the only all-women Indigenous snow-sculpting team in the world. Friedli’s mother’s family is Anishinaabe, from the Little Traverse Bay Ban ds of Odawa Indians in Michigan, and her paternal grandmother is from Indigenous communities in Sonora, Mexico.

In addition to creating annual sculptures at the Vulcan Snow Park during the Winter Carnival for nearly a decade and a half, her snow-sculpting teams have earned several state and national accolades, and she was a competitor in the Disney special “Best of Snow” in 2022.

“I wouldn’t have had those opportunities had it not been for the support of the Vulcans and the Winter Carnival having these competitions where we as artists can express ourselves in this crazy-cool medium of snow,” she said. “It’s so creative, and it’s so uniquely Minnesotan.”

You can buy the buttons online at wintercarnival.com/buttons or at businesses including all Cub Foods and Blaze Credit Union locations and the following:

CandyLand: 435 N. Wabasha St.
City & County Credit Union: 1661 Cope Ave E, Maplewood
A Johnson & Sons Florist: 1738 Grand Ave.
Bright Corner Gift Shop  640 Jackson St.
Landmark Center Gift Shop 75 W. 5th St.
Red Balloon, 891 Grand Ave.
Kowalski’s, 1261 Grand Ave.
St. Paul Brewing, 688 E. Minnehaha Ave.
St. Paul Hotel, 350 Market St.
Borchert’s Meats, 1344 Frost Ave., Maplewood
West St. Paul Antiques, 880 S.Smith Ave.

Each button is $5; a four-pack is available for $19. (Same prices as last year.) A limited number of special four-packs that include a commemorative pin will be sold for $20 during the Winter Carnival itself. All buttons also come with a Winter Carnival Fun Pass, a program started for the 2024 carnival that provides deals at local businesses and entry into prize raffles.

When Friedli was asked to design the carnival buttons, in early September, she returned to a theme that animates much of her work, she said: Sharing the joy of spending time outdoors, especially during colder months.

“Part of my inspiration, as a mom and as a participant in the Winter Carnival, was, what are the things that have the most meaning to me? What do people find joy in when they come to the St. Paul Winter Carnival?” Friedli said.

Sculptors Heather Friedli, left, and Adam Turner try to saw off a piece of snow off their block at the U.S. National Snow Sculpting Championship in Lake Geneva. (AP Photo/Carrie Antlfinger)

For her, of course, snow sculpting tops the list. One button depicts an actual sculpture that Friedli and Team Kwe created, of a Native jingle dress dancer. Other buttons feature the annual jigsaw puzzle competition, the carnival’s King Boreas Grande Day Parade — with a cameo appearance by her two children as parade-watchers — and a nighttime ice sculpture scene inspired by Friedli’s nighttime walks with her dogs near her home on the West Side.

“I just think it’s a magical winter experience to look at the beautiful city with the lights and the bridge and the historical buildings we’ve taken care of,” she said. “That’s so distinct for our city, and it’s such a treasure.”

The upcoming Winter Carnival, the 139th festival, will take place Jan. 23 to Feb. 2.

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