This Breathtaking Snow And Ice Festival Looks Magical

Ah, Christmas. What a distant memory that seems, right? Well, if you're missing the festive season as much as we are, we have some good news.

Dubbed a 'real life winter wonderland' the International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival has kicked off in China this week and is set to attract around 15 million visitors.

Based in Harbin - which is one of the coldest cities on the planet - the magical festival has been running for the last 36 years and displays breathtaking snow and ice sculptures, hand-carved by *mega* talented artists.

This year, it lasts until 25th February, giving visitors all over the globe the chance to visit and marvel at its beauty.

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Incredibly, the ice sculptures are made from a mind-boggling 220,000 cubic metres of ice, sourced from the Songhua River.

Believed to be the world's biggest winter festival, the event's tallest sculpture stands at a mega 150 feet and is even thought to 'touch the sky' as it towers among the clouds.

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The event also showcases a number of enchanting light installations as well as beautiful neon light shows. In the past the snow and ice festival has also hosted weddings, in which brides are spotted shielding from the cold by covering their dresses with parkas.

There's also plenty of activities, including skiing, ice skating, 'ice football' and bike riding to get involved in.

If that wasn't enough, visitors can also experience six gigantic ice slides as well as 15 snow racing tracks - which I'm sure we can all agree sounds *seriously* fun.

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The dazzling theme park spans across 148 acres, making it bigger than London's Hyde Park, where Winter Wonderland is hosted each year.

For 2020, the main attraction is the 'Crown of Ice and Snow' which measures a whopping 131 feet.

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Entrance into the fairy tale theme park - which, incredibly is built by 10,000 workers in around 15 days - is priced at $48 (£36).

Temperatures can drop to as low as minus 30 at the theme park - so if you do fancy visiting, it might be time to channel your inner Elsa...

Topics: Life News, Events News, travel

Lucy Devine

Lucy is a journalist working for Tyla. After graduating with a master's degree in journalism, she has worked in both print and online and is particularly interested in fashion, food, health and women's issues. Northerner, coffee addict, says hun a lot. Get in touch at [email protected].

@lucedevine