Week 2 - Ice Sculpting

Lots of skill to appreciate in the final sculptures but something best to do if you are in the area.

Week 2 and I already needed something a little more chilled out in order to recover from week 1, so it was just as well the London Ice Sculpting Festival was on this weekend. 
Additionally, as a bit of a mid week bonus I also tried out a tabletop game, originating from Brazil, called Button Football.

Spanning 3 days (Friday to Sunday), the Ice Sculpting Festival was held in and around Canary Wharf. Some of the attractions included giving visitors the chance to have a go at sculpting either a penguin or a polar bear in the ice sculpting sculpting master classes, carve a name for themselves on the graffiti ice wall, play ice chess, as well as see the eight international teams competing in the headline competitions. Also on the opening and closing evenings of the festival was a laser show (apparently).

I made it over to the event early on Saturday morning, even considering the lack of sleep the night before! This was to guarantee I got to have a go in one of the master classes. However, I don't think I'll be pursuing a career in it any time soon as you'll probably agree from my attempt at a penguin below.

The main event this year saw the international teams interpreting the themes 'Wonders of the Universe' in the doubles competition, carving their creations out of the 2m high blocks of ice. In the singles speed sculpting challenge the theme was 'Infinity'. 
Some of my favourites from the main competition are below so you can see how it's really done. 

I'm only disappointed that I didn't go in the evening when the Northern Lights laser show was on and the sculptures look truly amazing lit up, as you can see from the following pictures:

(Disclaimer, I don't own these pictures, they were taken by Reds on Flickr, to see more of their work click here, hopefully they don't mind me linking to them)

For more information on the Ice Sculpting Festival check out the official website.