In Bruges will be held the Ice Sculpture Festival

On November 20, 2009 in one of the largest cities of Belgium, Bruges (niderl. Brugge, fr. Bruges), will be started the winter international festival of ice sculptures "Ice Age" (L'Age de Glace), which will last until January 10, 2010. The festival will be attended by famous sculptors from China, Canada, Sweden, Russia, Holland and Belgium, as well as international teams from more than 40 countries. Every one of “the wizards of snow and ice” will be provided with two ton block of ice, from which will be created icy masterpieces from the magnificent palaces to the fairy-tale characters, though, as the name of the festival says, the main theme of it will be the recently released cartoon “Ice Age 3”.

In total during the festival artists will spent around 300 tons of ice and 400 tons of snow. The exhibition will be held at the railway station square in Bruges in specifically established pavilion, which will be opened for the visitors during the festival without weekends and breaks. Thanks to the special silent cooling devices the temperature there will be maintained at the same level (-6 degrees), allowing the ice works stand for so long. And all kinds of colored lamps and lighting devices will create a magical unforgettable atmosphere. For the adults in the pavilion will be built a bar, where everything from furniture and cabinets to the crockery and cutlery will be made of ice.

Bruges is one of the most picturesque cities in Europe, through multiple channels and superbly preserved ancient architecture, Bruges is often called the Venice of the North. Moreover, three major channels (Ghent, Ostend and Sluss) are so deep that here can pass the ships, which makes the city an important economic center. Bruges is famous for its museums, ancient churches and architectural monuments, which successfully survived after two world wars and withstand the onslaught of time and preserved practically unchanged. Particularly noteworthy are such monuments as: the Market on the large square (XIV century.), on which stands a 107-meter tower. There is also the Gothic Town Hall, which currently displays 33 statues of counts and countesses of Flanders, who were burned by the French in 1792. The tourists will be very interesting to see the Basilica of Holy Blood, the Cathedral of Our Lady, the Hospital of Sint-Jans and Hans Memling Museum.