Despite extremely low temperatures, millions flock to the Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival every year all bundled up to beat cold temperatures that may even go as low as minus 31 degrees. An annual event, the festival takes place in Harbin situated in China's northeast Heilongjiang province. The festival is usually opened to an eager audience by January 5 and goes on until the end of February.
A photographer's paradise, the festival includes many activities for participants and viewers such as ice hockey, ice football, sledging, an international ice sculpture competition, an ice lantern show, and much more. Every year there is a particular theme, with the past few being the Beijing Olympics and ‘friendship between China and Russia.'
Covering more than 8,000,000 square feet, the festival holds the 2007 Guinness Record for the largest snow sculpture that has totaled over 250 meters long, 8.5 meters high, and composed of over 13,000 cubic meters of snow. Featuring more than 10,000,000 cubic feet of ice and snow, the festival is a big honeymooners spot and tourist destination.
Workers, who spend months cutting and transporting the ice blocks, source the ice from the Songhua River—which are then used by experts to create massive and elaborate displays. The festival, which started in 1963, is still attended by competitive teams and people from all over the world. The structures at night are lit in LED-lights and the firecracker displays, making the place even more magical.
The Harbin Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival is on from January 5 – February 25, 2017, in Harbin, China.
