The Ice King van has been hitting the streets of Canberra for about four years, selling ice-creams, coffees and hot dogs.

It will be a welcome sight this week as temperatures are expected to stay above 35 degrees for the foreseeable forecast, with no break in sight. It had already reached 35 degrees by 1pm Wednesday, and was still rising.

Co-owner Ian Halliday said that although there weren't many ice-cream vendors around anymore, people still loved them when they came around.

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Sadly, she said driving from street to street trying to entice out hungry children and indulgent parents was a thing of the past.

"We still occasionally do it, mainly for our regular customers who love it and ask us to come around their area. [But] we’re now doing a lot of weddings and parties and birthdays, just that sort of thing," she said.

Her partner Ian Halliday said most of the money was in events or call-outs, which kept them busy - even in winter.

He said you had to be more flexible, with some patrons calling and asking them to come by around if they were nearby.

"You get calls from people saying come over to the park, we have a birthday party on or some such," he said.

"A lot of people have the number and they give us a ring and they ask us where we are, and if we’re in that vicinity we’ll swing by to accommodate them."

The van might be welcome this week. Temperatures will peak on Wednesday at up to 38 degrees in Canberra.

Selling ice-creams in this heat would seem to be a goldmine, but Mr Halliday said it could still be a difficult business.

"At the end of the day, it’s a luxury not a necessity with today’s economy ... [customers] don’t seem to have that extra bit of money at times," he said.

But when the mood takes the Ice King Van and they cruise the suburbs again like in the good old days, there's only one tune on the speaker. And no, it's not Greensleeves.

"Teddy Bear's Picnic, it's our signature tune," said Mr Halliday.