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WARM AS ICE
The story about the festival of snow and ice sculptures in Yakutia
WARM AS ICE
The story about the festival of snow and ice sculptures in Yakutia
The Diamonds of Yakutia International Competition of Snow and Ice Sculptures is held in the frames of the Winter Starts in Yakutia Festival. Each year the theme of the competition is different. This year, the masters will present their work on the theme "The Legend of Winter".

Yakut ice and snow attract to the capital of the republic the best masters of their work from all over the world. Last year 31 teams presented their work. Among them were representatives of Yakutia, China, Mongolia, Holland, France, Estonia, Belarus, Bashkortostan, the Republic of Tyva, Chuvashia, St. Petersburg and the Moscow region.
The Diamonds of Yakutia International Competition of Snow and Ice Sculptures is held in the frames of the Winter Starts in Yakutia Festival. Each year the theme of the competition is different. This year, the masters will present their work on the theme "The Legend of Winter".

Yakut ice and snow attract to the capital of the republic the best masters of their work from all over the world. Last year 31 teams presented their work. Among them were representatives of Yakutia, China, Mongolia, Holland, France, Estonia, Belarus, Bashkortostan, the Republic of Tyva, Chuvashia, St. Petersburg and the Moscow region.
IT IS -45 C OUTSIDE
The teams come on the field of snow art to create their own unique and special sculptures. The
contestants prepare ice sculptures for the whole three days and snow sculptures for two days. As
acknowledged by the participants themselves, everyone's mood is working, upbeat, and no one is
afraid of severe frosts. Many teams participate in the competition not for the first time. Participants
from other countries say that Yakut cold tempers their character and increases their fighting spirit.

The teams enter the field of snow creativity to create their own unique and
The organizers of the competition provide teams with uniform size blocks of ice and snow: 8 ice blocks of 1.5x1.0x0.3 m and 1 cube of pressed snow of 2.5x2.5x3.0 m. All teams have access to the power grid. They are provided with fuel and lubricants, and all consumables.
The organizers of the competition provide teams with uniform size blocks of ice and snow: 8 ice blocks of 1.5x1.0x0.3 m and 1 cube of pressed snow of 2.5x2.5x3.0 m. All teams have access to the power grid. They are provided with fuel and lubricants, and all consumables.
«Our goal is to get warm from cold ice»
Julustan Markov
chairman of the jury, multiple winner, awardee of international competitions and festivals in ice and
snow sculptures

Aisen Nikolaev
Head of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)
«There are many competitions of ice and snow sculptures in the world, but there is one and only where the participants work in a forty-degree frost, and it is held in Yakutsk»
"Yakutsk is the eart of the north" was the theme of the competition in 2017 By the jury's decision, Roel Teeuwen and Anne-Pie Teeuwen, the father and daughter from Holland, won the victory in the Ice Sculptures Сategory for the "Striving for Light" composition.
«We are in Yakutia for the first time. We have learned about the contest from the President of the International Association of Snow and Ice Sculpture Juhani Lillberg. I have been doing this work for 40 years. It is very unusual and cold in Yakutsk. The Yakut ice is real ice, here you can see real Russia, not European»

Roel Teeuwen
Thanks to the Winter Starts in Yakutia Festival the whole world will know about Yakut
frosts, winter tourism and Yakutia in general. Here, in the capital of the northern region,
snow and ice can be turned into grace and beauty. Only here, in Yakutia, you can see ice
sculptures that can rejoice everyone with their warmth.
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