For many years we have kept an eye on the ice festival in Harbin, China, but oooh…the cold (-25) is just too much. This year we went for the small Ice Festival in Poznan – the Midieval beauty that once was the capital of Poland. Unfortunately no snow, but the festival is always held.
Poznan is a big city of about 1 miljon inhabitants, but we stayed in the old center with its typical architecture and beautifully decorated facades.
A festive feeling lit up the grand square, where they also had arranged a skating rink.
People of all ages enjoyed themselves – and treated the audience to lovely moves as well as spectacular falls…
The Christmas market was in full swing as well and we were still lucky with the weather. But, This was what we came for:
There were participants from all over the world, about 30 couples all in all. They circled the whole square. It was good to see great cooperation between people of different countries and nationalities. Iraq, Spain, Canada, the Philippines, Germany, Poland…The Ice Team worked hard to serve them all!
The artists were very skilled, and it was a treat to see them handling the ice. Some of them had made a sketch to follow, but some not. Their tools looked similar to those used for tree sculpting, but how do you work with a material like ice? We saw no big mistakes though, and the ice blocks seemed to tolerate almost any treatment…
The finished sculptures were fabulous works of art. Most of them rather small sized, but some the size of a grown human.
They were put on pedestals and lit up in different colours. We didn’t stay to see the winner, but these two were my favourites.
Art is a wonderful thing, it makes your heart glow and your mind grow. Thank you for walking with me, I hope you enjoyed!
Leya 
My father was born near Poznan, but I’ve never been there. The one time I went to Poland, I decided to give it a miss, as what I read didn’t entice me. I missed out! What a treat you enjoyed!
He was? Oh, you will have to visit some day, it’s a beautiful city center and the food is delicious!
Like you I’ve been put off (VERY put off!) by the cold in Harbin and I didn’t even know about this European alternative. It looks like a good place to admire the skills of these ice sculptors and I love the two you’ve picked out as your favourites to share 🙂
Thank you, Sarah – a tiny but nice substitute!
Stunning ice sculptures, Ann Christine! such talented sculptors And as you say ”Art is a wonderful thing, it makes your heart glow and your mind grow”…..I totally agree, and in our current mad world, we really need it to stay sane. Poznan looks a great place to visit with that wonderful old town
Thank you, Sue, I really enjoyed the festival and the beautiful city center. Poland has a lot of half hidden gems!
I used always to go to a similar festival in York, mid-December, but this is fabulous. Thanks so much for taking me back to Poznan, Ann-Christine. I love it xx
♥ York!
Was not at all aware about this particular festival – what a delight to see all the artistry . . . shall talk to Mr Google and hope he shows me even more . . . thank you, ❤️💞❤️, and hope you really enjoyed . . .
Oh – I did!
It looks like an amazing time. The sculptures are beautiful
Thank you, Tina! It was a fun couple of days there.
Those sculptures are amazing and you photographed them beautifully.
Thank you, Pepper – I really enjoyed looking at the skilled artists.
A fabulous way to spend a bit of time watching ice sculptors at work. The result are amazing, the lighting really enhances the work
Thank you – yes, light makes a big difference.
Wonderful.
Happy you liked it, Brad! It was interesting and beautiful.