The largest and the greatest ice and snow sculpture festival in the world takes place annually in Harbin, Heilongjiang, China. Every winter hundreds of the best ice sculptors from all over the world come here to create ice magic. Hundreds of thousands of spectators come to the city of Harbin to enjoy these stunning ice and snow masterpieces.
The festival features some of the biggest ice sculptures in the world. It traditionally starts on the 5th of January and lasts for a whole month. The exhibits itself can stay even longer, which mainly depends on weather.
There are three main venues at the festival grounds. At the Sun Island, you can find the enormous snow sculptures and wonderful art works. Here you can visit the largest indoor ice and snow art museum, which is usually open since November.
Ice and Snow World is a huge ice architecture park. Here you can meet the Great Wall, the Egyptian Pyramids, and other famous architectural creations made of ice and snow. At night you can enjoy the illumination that lights all the ice buildings and sculptures. Zhaolin Park is where you can watch the most traditional celebrations.
The Ice Lantern Garden Party is a unique event held annually since 1963. The park is filled with lots of various themed sculptures. You can find here various animals carved from ice, buildings, flowers, and classic Chinese arts as well.
Watch these amazing works of art in the daylight or enjoy sparkling colourful lighting placed inside the sculptures at night.
Lots of winter activities accompany this festival. Locals and visitors can enjoy alpine skiing or even winter-swimming in the Songhua River. This festival is a magical event full of fun and excitement.
