"A few have said they don't want to bring in new staff for seven weeks during the holiday season, lay them off again and bring them back in April," Pleasure Island Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Jim DeGilio told Carolina Beach Town Council in September, as Port City Daily reported.

He was describing what Boardwalk businesses had told him about the chamber's plan for an ice rink. According to the same report, some of them were holding off on their usual off-season staff cuts this year. In beach towns, restaurants, bars and shops often shrink their crews to get through the slow months.

The rink is called Boardwalk on Ice. It's an 88-foot sheet of real ice, and it opens on the Carolina Beach Boardwalk on Black Friday, Nov. 27, staying through Sunday, Jan. 3, 2027. It's a test of whether the Boardwalk can carry a December season of its own. For anyone who lives on the island, it also changes how the holiday calendar fits together. The parade, the flotilla and the lightings each last one night. The rink is open across all five weeks between them.

What the town paid for

Council voted unanimously at its September meeting to give the rink $50,000 in seed funding. DeGilio asked for it as a one-time payment from Tourism Development Authority funds, which come from occupancy room taxes. "We hope to in subsequent years make this something that we can pay for every year out of the profits and other monies," he told council, according to Port City Daily.

The plan presented to council calls for the rink to run from November through January every year. That makes this first season the trial run for a rink the chamber hopes will eventually pay for itself.

Mayor Pro Tem Deb LeCompte put it in terms of an older idea. "Christmas by the Sea was created as a shoulder-season event to bring business to the Boardwalk," she said at the meeting. DeGilio went further. He said that if the season shows Carolina Beach can sustain year-round tourism, other entrepreneurs could see that as a reason to base a business on the island. When WWAY reported on the chamber's October announcement, DeGilio said the rink and its vendors "will help bring more activity to local businesses."

Where the ice goes

The rink is going on a parking lot between Cape Fear Boulevard and Carolina Beach Avenue North, next to Silver Dollar and Hurricane Alley's. WECT describes the spot as south of Silver Dollar, north of Hurricane Alley's, east of Carolina Beach Avenue North and west of the new bathrooms. DeGilio told council the lot would need a little leveling but was in good shape overall.

The operator has experience doing this. WECT reports that it's an Ohio-based company with 36 years in the business that also runs a similar rink in Southport.

Public skating runs Wednesday through Sunday. Mondays and Tuesdays are set aside for programming such as figure-skating exhibitions, lessons and private events. Here's the schedule the chamber presented to council in September, with separate hours for the holidays:

The Pleasure Island Chamber of Commerce runs the rink and has a Boardwalk on Ice page on its website.

How the one-night events line up around it

Pleasure Island's holiday traditions have always been a string of single evenings, mostly run by the volunteer Island of Lights committee and the Town of Carolina Beach. This year the rink is open in every one of those weeks, a short walk from the Boardwalk. Here's how the season falls, week by week:

• Saturday, Nov. 21: The Merry Market on the Beach runs from noon to 4 p.m. at the Carolina Beach Pier, with an indoor Christmas pop-up bar, German music and Christmas-market vendors. Down the island, the Kure Beach Holiday Market is at Ocean Front Park & Pavilion from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and it's back on Nov. 28.
• Friday, Nov. 27: The rink opens the same day as Island of Lights' Lighting at the Lake at Carolina Beach Lake Park, at Atlanta Avenue and Lake Park Boulevard. The Island of Lights page lists a 6:30 p.m. start, free admission and a visit from Santa. The lighting kicks off the month-long Island of Lights Festival, and visitors can walk around the lake to see the light displays. The Town's weekly update for Oct. 26 to 30 reported that Lake Park work was finished except for small punch-list items.
• Friday, Dec. 4: The Carolina Beach Christmas Parade follows Atlanta Avenue down Lake Park Boulevard to Federal Point Shopping Center. It's free to watch and usually runs from 7 to 9 p.m. The Town has run the parade since 2023. Last year's was canceled because of bad weather, WECT reported. Britt's Donuts, which normally closes after Labor Day, plans limited December hours, including the parade weekend and a Donut Decorating Night, according to WECT.
• Saturday, Dec. 5: The Carolina Beach Holiday Market fills Lake Park from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. with more than 90 handmade arts-and-crafts vendors. At 6 p.m., the Island of Lights Christmas Flotilla runs from Snows Cut to the Carolina Beach Boat Basin and back on the Intracoastal Waterway. It's free to watch, and spectators can text in votes for People's Choice. To watch from the water, Island Cruises leaves Carolina Beach Marina from 5 to 7 p.m. Tickets are listed at $42 for adults and $28 for children ages 0 to 12.
• Sunday, Dec. 6: The Christmas Palm Tree Lighting at the Carolina Beach Pier runs from 4 to 7 p.m., with the Nate Gerry Trio and an indoor Holiday Pop Up Bar at High Tide Lounge.
• Saturday, Dec. 12: The Island of Lights Holiday Tour of Homes runs from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. It's a self-guided tour of decorated homes in Carolina Beach, Kure Beach and nearby. Tickets are $12 and go on sale at local retailers closer to the date.
• Friday and Saturday, Dec. 18 and 19: Kure Beach holds its Grinch-themed Holiday Whoobie Whatty at Ocean Front Park on Friday from 6 to 8 p.m. On Saturday, Fairytales and Dreams by the Sea leads Holiday Story Time by the Sea from 11 a.m. to noon. That evening, Santa by the Sea is at Carolina Beach Lake Park from 5 to 7 p.m., weather permitting.

Before this year, the gaps between those dates were quiet weeks on the Boardwalk. This year they're skating weeks.

The nights the island usually goes dark

The two holidays at the end of the season used to be the hardest stretch for the Boardwalk. Under the September plan, the rink is open on both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, from 3 to 8 p.m. on Dec. 25. That gives anyone hosting out-of-town family something to do on the Boardwalk the afternoon of Christmas Day.

New Year's Eve hands off neatly. The rink's planned hours on Dec. 31 end at 9 p.m. That's when the Island of Lights New Year's Eve Celebration begins at the Carolina Beach Boardwalk. The free party has a DJ, refreshments and party favors for sale, and a beach-ball drop and fireworks at midnight. The celebration moves between Carolina Beach and Kure Beach from year to year, and this year it's on the Boardwalk, steps from the rink. The rink opens at 2 p.m. on New Year's Day, and its last day is Sunday, Jan. 3.

A Christmas Village, eventually

This year's setup is simple. According to Port City Daily, there will be tent spaces around the rink for vendors selling hot chocolate, cookies, gifts and more. Mayor Lynn Barbee liked the idea of a "Christmas Village." DeGilio said that idea is still in its infancy. He has looked into collapsible wooden market houses, like the stalls at a German Christmas market, that could ring the rink. They cost about $5,000 each, and he said the chamber would have to figure out how to pay for them.

Council members also raised costs. Wayne Rouse asked whether the town would face any other expenses. DeGilio pointed to the chillers that go under the ice but didn't have estimates yet.

That puts more weight on how the first season goes. The $50,000 was a one-time payment. Whether wooden market houses ever go up depends on how the rink does financially, and on whether the Boardwalk businesses that kept their staff through December decide it was worth it. The rink stays open five weeks, Nov. 27 through Jan. 3.

If you're curious how a busier off-season on Pleasure Island might show up in the value of your own Carolina Beach property, Tory Kuehner Group can walk you through it. Get Your Instant Home Valuation, and we'd be glad to talk it over before or after a few laps on the Boardwalk.