I have a valuable lesson to share. Ice is “see through”! I expect you thought that was “transparently” obvious, didn’t you? I simply found it quite difficult to obtain effective photographs of ice sculptures, out in the street. Excuses over, I did thoroughly enjoy myself trying, at York’s Festival of Angels.
An innocent bystander peeps through the angel wings
The city of York was as festive as anywhere I’ve ever been at Christmas time, and the Festival of Angels added its own charming dimension. Local businesses sponsor the ice sculptures, most of which are traditional Christmas images of angels and snowflakes. The large handsome slug produced an exclamation or two, however. The sponsor? A certain restaurant chain that accompanies its food with “green stuff”.
A slippery slug!
Mr. Slug illustrates the fact that I should have waited a while to let the frosting on the ice sculptures melt a little. I’ll know better next time but I was keen to see them all before too big a crowd gathered.
A rather frosty angel
Rudolph was almost defrosted
And the penguin was halfway there!
But the angel won, hands down, quite rightly
The crowd were mostly in good spirits as they wove in and out of the narrow streets. The presence of an “Ice Bar”, selling delectables such as Baileys in a frozen chocolate cup, undoubtedly helped. Mulled wine flowed sweetly too. And there was always Earl Grey in the tea shop.
It speaks for itself
Naturally Santa was there
And an Ice King, who must have had chilly nether regions
Even the barrel organ was feeling festive
Never tell me the British don’t have a sense of humour
York’s a good looking city, and there’s always something to see. I was also checking out Vintage shops, and in passing couldn’t resist a few more shots.
A former cinema, turned furniture store!
The Merchants Hall is quite special
St. Martin’s Church makes a lovely backdrop
I would have liked a few more ice sculpture photographs, but they do say “life is for learning”, don’t they?
Ice Christmas trees?
An ice Charter of York
An ice polar bear
And finally, a snowflake
My apologies for not doing full justice to the amount of work that must have gone into these incredible pieces of artwork. I hope you managed to gain just a flavour of the event, and my thanks to York for being gracious hostess to the Festival of Angels.
restlessjo 
Love the ice sculptures…I think you did them justice just fine! Looks like a fun festival.
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The atmosphere was lovely, Anita, and not just because of the mulled wine! Thanks for stopping by.
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Great post Jo – I really liked scrolling down to see more and more sculptured ice creations …. I’m stumped as to how they do it ..*giggle*@chilly nethers 😉
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Thank you! I like my photos in that format, then I can “tell a story” as I go along. Some people prefer the Gallery option, though.
Definitely cool round the nethers!
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Jo, incredible what the artists were able to achieve with ice! They remind me of some sand sculptures that we saw in the Canary Islands several years ago. Lovely!
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I have no idea how it’s possible, Tricia! I love sand sculptures too, but they are easier to conceive and a little more lasting. At FIESA in the Algarve they have an event every year which lasts from May till October.
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It’s incredible how they make this, compliments for the artists !
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Wonderful, aren’t they! Many thanks for your visit.
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I really find your post interesting ! Have a lovely evening !
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Stunning post and I absolutely adore that snowflake sculpture!
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Many thanks, Jodi. It was wonderfully Christmassy.
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Wow
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nice………
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Thank you, sir!
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What a lovely post. My favorite among those ice sculptures are angels! I am glad that You presented ice carvings.
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Thank you! They were lovely, and the amazement on the children’s faces was wonderful to see.
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Beautiful ice sculptures! I’m so glad you got these pictures to share. It does look cold!
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It wasn’t too bad, Meg, and there were plenty of “warming” drinks about. It’s currently bouncing with rain, and that would have been a disaster!
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Those sculptures are amazing, and you remind me of how much I want to visit York. I can’t believe I still haven’t been, and now I know about the Earl Grey tearooms I have a quite desperate desire to get myself down to Yorkshire post haste. Smashing post!
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Oh the tearooms I can recommend if you do head in that direction. Sumptuous! Thanks, Lorna.
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I thought your photos were quite beautiful, actually. My favorite sculpture would have to be the angel as well.. she was stunning, wasn’t she? I watched ice sculpting once, it’s really quite a difficult art, it’s amazing really when you watch them work at chipping ice! Merry Christmas.. I hope you have a wonderful holiday!! xxxx
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Thanks, Smidge. I’m right there with the Blissful Adventurer in thinking that you have one of the best blogs ever. Blessings, my dear.
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The sculptures are fabulous. What a lovely day out.
I visited York on a school trip and I have always wanted to go back. I loved it, apart from the bit where the ice cream lady burped over my ice cream so I gave it away.
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What a fond memory??? Thanks, Tilly.
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The creativity and attention to detail astounds me . . . How marvelous it must have been to see each of these beauties in person! I will have to see if I can arrange a similar experience for myself and The Hubs. Nice to meet you!
~ Cara
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Thanks for returning my visit, Cara. Have a wonderful Christmas!
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My pleasure! I see we share a friend in Michael, AKA Blissful Adventurer. So lovely to find new friends. 😉
And a merry, wonderful Christmas to you as well!
~ Cara
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Excellent photos, Jo! Ice sculptures are mesmerizing! If you haven’t yet, the ice sculpture festival in Hokkaido Japan have TITANTIC ones the size of BUILDINGS!
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That sounds amazing, Zoe. It’s my dream (ice-mare???) to visit Japan.
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Love them all.The angel caught my attention too. Somehow it reminded me of the little angels we lost recently in Connecticut and else where in other parts of the world who all are now in heaven. Beautiful post. Merry CHristmas and wishing you and your family all life’s blessings.
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Thanks, Mr. B. Not so easy to spread Christmas cheer this year. Thank you for following me and hope next year is beautiful for you.
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It’s a pity that the festival wasn’t held last week Jo. That really cold morning would have been just perfect and the fog would have added some real winter atmosphere. The sculptures might have lasted all day as well. Great post.
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With my skills, I probably wouldn’t have found the ice sculptures in the fog, David. Next year I’m sending you! Thanks, m’dear. Merry Christmas!
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Jo, I LOVE reading and seeing Holiday posts and photos! Yours is no exception! Since the December is my favorite time of the year, it’s always a good thing to see how everyone else from around the world celebrates the Holidays!
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I get a little depressive sometimes, Antoinette, but it’s nice to be reminded of all the beauty and good things out there. Have a great Christmas.
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I think your photos are pretty spectacular Jo, and as I sit here in 35 degree heat sipping a cooling cider, they were the perfect images for me to enjoy!
Ice sculptures are very intricate and seeing them makes you appreciate all the work that’s gone into making them – phew!
Thanks for the tour round a beautiful city.
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Got another lovely traditional post coming up next, Barb. So many beautiful things to see this year, alongside such sadness.
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How wonderful. I love the photos of the kids touching them. How can you not resist. The one of the church in the background is a beautiful scene. Ice sculptors we do not have in Florida, but we have sand sculptor competitions each year which draw contestants from around the world. Love the angel.
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Hi Lynne. I do appreciate you taking the time to comment, hon. Yeah, the young uns were great.
I’m very versatile (smile), I love sand sculptures too!
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