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As the seasons shift into winter, the temperature begins to drop and the sun loses its summer intensity, allowing artists, architects and sculptors once again to enjoy the chill of their winter medium—ice. Around the globe, select areas and organizations feature the Snow Show, a festival of ice and snow that attracts millions of people worldwide. The Snow Show, also referred to as the Ice Festival, varies in size, but can be built to cover anywhere from hundreds to thousands of square feet. Millions of spectators are drawn from around to globe, in some cases to watch artists attack chunks of ice with chainsaws and chisels, transforming simple cubes of ice and snow into elaborate and detailed works of art, including miniature and life-sized figures as well as buildings and castles reaching up to 40 feet in height. In other cases, guests flock to their nearest Snow Show for a chance to wander through the majestic, sublime and fantastical wonderlands of crystal castles, soldiers and winged figures, all made entirely out of ice. While most exhibitions are held outside during the winter months, the specific temperature requirements both for the creation and the sustainability of the exhibit create restrictions on locations, limiting the Snow Show to Northern regions. However, in some locations Snow Shows are held indoors in climate controlled facilities. Temperatures in these facilities are kept at -5 degrees Celsius in order to ensure the integrity of the ice structures. The formation of the ice sculptures for exhibition within the Snow Show present several challenges to artists due to the variable and volatile nature of the medium. While ice may be sculpted in a variety of different temperatures, the characteristics of the ice will change according to its temperature, as well as its surrounding temperature. Sculptors need to create their works quickly in order to avoid the effects of melting. The texture and appearance of the ice itself is influenced by the temperature and rate at which the ice is frozen. Clouded ice is created when finely trapped air molecules bind to the water as it naturally freezes. Transparent ice, some clear enough to look like glass, is mechanically manufactured in a method that circulates the water to control the freezing process, thus preventing air molecules from becoming trapped within the ice. Machines are also used to slow the freezing process, allowing impurities to be removed from the ice. As a result of these different freezing processes, different kinds of ice are available to sculptors, providing them with different textures, colours and effects to work with. In some cases, carvers combine clear, clouded and coloured ice to create the desired effect within their sculptures. Sculptors use chainsaws, custom bits fitted to die grinders, razor sharp chisels and hand saws, as well as various technologies adapted to ice carving, including CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machines and molding systems. Colour effects are added to the ice carvings using coloured gels and sands as tints. LED light systems are modified and employed in some cases to enhance the crystal effect of the sculptures. Millions of pounds of ice are worked into each exhibit in order to create fantastical frozen wonderlands for guests to behold as they explore the winter gallery of the Snow Show. International Special Attractions, Ltd offers amazing snow show where you can find ice intricately fused with LED lights to create a wonderland. For more information on snow making, you may also visit Wikipedia.
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