Next weekend's gala marks the official start of the 55th Annual Lake George Winter Carnival. As TWC News' Matt Hunter reports, while the weather may not be cooperating yet, organizers expect another successful year.

LAKE GEORGE, N.Y. – Midway through the normally sleepy season, Lake George Village gets a month-long revival from the thousands who come for the annual Winter Carnival.

"It's good to see when there is not a parking space available on the main street and it's like summer again," said Linda Duffy, who owns both Duffy’s Deli and the neighboring tavern on Canada Street. ”It's that little extra more that helps you get through until the summer starts again."

"It's just amazing how many people will open and make money," said Nancy Nichols, who owns Mario’s Restaurant and co-chairs the Winter Carnival Committee with Duffy.

One week before next Friday's kick-off gala, the lake -- which is typically iced over by now -- is anything but frozen, and there are many spots with little to no snow on the ground.

"We have been through this before,” said Nichols, who’s been involved with the carnival for more than 30 years. “We have done crazy snow dances; we have prayed on our knees."

So far, those superstitions haven't swayed Mother Nature, which means certain events that rely on the ice may fall through.

"The sanctioned races, we will not be able to have if we don't have ice, probably because there are no other spots besides the lake that are big enough to have those races on," said Duffy, referring to snowmobile and motorcycle races.

Despite those challenges, organizers say most events will go on as scheduled and expect warm temperatures to actually boost the crowds.

"No matter what we do, people have a good time, come up and enjoy and go to all of the businesses," Nichols said.

"If you look at our schedule, most of the things we have on the schedule are not ice-dependent anymore, especially when we went through this a few years ago," Duffy said.

Even so, they're holding out hope the weather will ultimately cooperate.

"The water is 32 degrees; it's ready,” Duffy said. “We just need some calm days and nights and maybe a little bit colder at night, below zero maybe."

February 6-7 marks the first full weekend of the carnival, which runs through the entire month. For a full list of events, visit the Lake George Winter Carnival website.