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The 24th International Ice Sculpture Festival will take place from February 3 to 5 in Jelgava – on Jānis Čakste boulevard, Pasta island and in the open-air concert hall “Mītava”. This year, the works of art will be created by 32 professional sculptors from 12 countries, revealing a unique perspective on the ancient deities and their importance in different cultures. At the festival, 45 competition sculptures will be created in almost a week, but in total more than 60 ice objects will be on display. Tickets can be purchased at “Bilešu paradīze” ticket offices. Tickets will be cheaper if you buy them in advance, until February 2.

Looking for new ideas and solutions, the jury of the 24th International Ice Sculpture Festival selected 30 authors of the best works, who will demonstrate their skills in the ice sculpture competition held in Jelgava in February.

Artists from a record number of countries have been selected for the competition. Sculptors from 12 countries – Indonesia, Mongolia, Czech Republic, Great Britain, Finland, Netherlands, Germany, Ireland, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania and Latvia – will create 45 competition ice sculptures. In total, 30 individual and 15 team sculptures will be on display during the festival. The sculptures of the competition will also be complemented by large-format ice photo objects created by the sculptor Kārlis Īle. Participants will create ice sculptures from January 30 to February 3.

The festival will be officially opened on February 3 with the awarding of the winners of the ice sculpture competition and the performance of musicians in the open-air concert hall “Mītava”. The event area will be open from 6 PM to 10PM, and the band “Rīgas modes” as well as hip-hop musician OZOLS will perform on the stage of the concert hall.

On February 4 and 5, the festival program is planned from 10 AM to 10 PM. In the morning, the Ādolfs Alunāns Jelgava Theater, the creative associations “Teātris un ES” and “Pasaku nams”, as well as Jelgava’s New Theater will offer theatrical performances for families.

Visitors will be able to watch how the ice turns into exciting works of art during the sculpting demonstration duels, while in the evening program on the stage of the open-air concert hall “Mītava” both local bands “Bermudu Divstūris” and “Pērkons” and the neighboring – Lithuanian bands “The Roop” and “Big Al & The Jokers” will perform.

Traffic restrictions

The main stage of the festival will be in the open-air concert hall “Mītava”, but sculptors will start work on the creation of sculptures on the Post Island from January 30th. Therefore, from January 26th to February 8th, Pasta Island will be closed.

From February 1st 9 AM to February 6th 8 PM., traffic will be closed on Jānis Čakste boulevard from Elektrības street to Liela street, on Driksa street  from Akadēmija street to J. Čakste boulevard and on Ūdens street.

In order to access the housing, residents of Raina Street are kindly invited to use Elektrības street, while residents of other buildings will have easier access to their housing. February 2nd to 6th, the pedestrian bridge “Mītava” will be available only for the visitors of the event.

Parkings

In the city of Jelgava, Driksa and Lielupe rivers are crossed by only one bridge, therefore, jams are expected during the festival due to increased traffic intensity. Visitors of the festival are invited not to use the Lielupe bridge and park their cars on the side side of the river they came from. Parking lots will be available on the both banks. Residents of Jelgava are advised to walk to the event or use the public transport. We also invite festival guests who will go to Jelgava from Riga to use the train. For train schedule visit: www.pv.lv

When entering the city from Riga, cars can be parked in the meadow opposite the Jelgava Palace and in the meadow on Cukura street near the Lielupe river’s left bank’s promenade, Zemgale Olympic Center and Jelgava Ice Hall parking lots. When entering the city from the direction of Dobele or Šiauliai cities, drivers are invited to use the parking lot on Sporta street 2C, where there are spaces for cars and buses, as well as other city parking lots specified in the traffic organization scheme.

Tour operators and travel agencies are invited to park buses in the parking lot behind Jelgava Castle. This parking lot will be for buses only. Pilssalas street, turning from Liela street, is crossed by the Lielupes bridge, so please note that the bus must not be higher than 4 meters. On Pilssalas street, near the “Silva” tea house, a parking lot will be organized for individuals with disabilities, which can be used by presenting a disabled parking permit and placing it in the car’s interior near the windshield. People passing through the city in a hurry are invited not to enter the center of Jelgava and to use the following roads: A8 Rīga – Jelgava – Lietuvas reža (Meitene), A9 Rīga – Liepāja.

Municipality in cooperation with GPS navigation software Waze has developed the map of parking lots and restrictions in real time mode, which will help visitors to plan their traffic route.

Tickets

Tickets can be purchased at “Biļešu Paradīze” ticket offices throughout Latvia, as well as on the website www.bilesuparadize.lv. Tickets will be cheaper if you buy them in  advance, until February 2.

The international ice sculpture festival is organized by the city of Jelgava and the institution “Kultūra” with the support of the companies “Ramirent” and “Husqvarna”.

The visitor of the event agrees to be filmed and photographed. Recorded material may be broadcast, reproduced and distributed without restriction.