Looking back on it, the childish glee that came along with the phone call from my school district declaring a snow day is something I have not felt since that time. With the help of my two brothers, I would construct massive igloos and snow castles in the winter wonderland that comes with a Connecticut winter. Building those snow constructions with my brothers are some of my most fond childhood memories, so when I found out that there was a large-scale competition for constructing massive snow creations, I knew I had to look into this event.
The Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival 2020 is held in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang, China’s northernmost province. It is usually celebrated from December 24 to February 28, ranging over the entire holiday season and new year. This festival adds some light and fun to the bitter winters of this area, and brings in many tourists, being named one of the world’s biggest winter festivals.
Annually, there are 10 to 15 million visitors. This festival covers 600,000 square meters of land and encompasses sculptures of all shapes and sizes. One of the most monumental sculpture stood at around 46 meters high!
Construction of the sculptures is quite complex, as stability needs to be maximized to ensure no participants get seriously injured if one of the sculptures were to topple over. 10,000 trained workers cut and haul the blocks of ice from the Songhua River to the construction workers. These workers collect and transport nearly 200,000 cubic meters of ice to the site. The blocks weigh up to 1,545 pounds each, so this job is not easy! Only qualified people with pre-approved plans may work with the blocks of ice to sculpt their masterpieces so, unfortunately, the average citizen may not participate in the formation of these structures, but it is more than enough to visit and take in the views of these magnificent pieces of winter art.
There are three main venues in the festival, each with different visitation hours and ticket prices. The Zhaolin Park Ice Lantern Festival venue and the Ice and Snow World venue are evening exhibitions, and the snow sculptures on Sun Island are only for viewing in the daytime. Zhaolin Park is mainly catered towards children, with sculptures of animals and magical figures while also including ice slides and other fun activities while the other two venues are more for adults to enjoy with their sophisticated architectural designs and amazing detail.
As apparent by the nature of the festival, it is very cold and thus, proper winter attire is recommended on your visit. In Harbin, the winter temperature is from -13°F to 14°F, not including wind chill! Thick arctic clothing is recommended, and thick boots would be beneficial as well, as during the festival you will need to walk around to take in the views. Also, an interesting recommendation is to take proper care of your camera battery, because at low temperatures like these, the fully charged battery will not last as long, so you will need to make sure that you keep your devices protected from the elements as well.
The beauty of this festival cannot be described by words, as the LED lights lighting up the ice and fireworks lighting up the sky is like something out of a dream. The childish glee of sitting back and admiring my ice and snow creations is nothing compared to what these artists feel when they finally complete their looming, gargantuan sculptures, only for them to be melted down and reconstructed in the next year.
I am not a big fan of the cold, but yet I have always found myself wanting to explore igloos and temporary ice hotels. This festival is so intriguing and beautiful, but I’m still not sure if I could bear the temperatures to visit.
I love snow and ice sculptures, and this festival has been on my list of places to travel to for quite some time! The work that the sculptors have to put into their work is incredible, and I can’t fathom having to move so much ice in such cold weather. I hope I’ll get a chance to go in the near future!
Ah, seeing all of these marvelous igloos brings me back to my childhood snow days as well. I would love to learn how people master igloo building and what skills are needed. I would surely love to go to this event!
Ice Festivals with igloos like these straight-up look like they are out of star wars. It’s crazy the way these artists work. How does one even practice or develop this skill?
This is so incredible! I always tried to make igloos as a child, but mine always seemed to fail. This, however, seems like a great opportunity to see some incredible igloos in real life! I would have never guessed that it was in China — I always forget just how large and geographically diverse the country really is.