With London cold enough for snow to fall instead of rain, it’s perfect conditions for it to host the first London Ice Sculpting Festival. Located just outside the National History Museum near South Kensington tube station, it’s easy to find located right next to the ice skating rink that sits outside.

Calling it a festival seems a little rich, but considering it takes these artisans a while to sculpt a particular block of ice, not to mention time to defrost, they several teams competing definitely need the time to put together their entries to the competition.

It’s fascinating to watch them at work, with either tiny picks, or chisels or when they pick up the mini chainsaw to carve away large chunks of ice. They even have their own assistants to sweep away the shavings so that the artists can focus on their creations.

It’s great to watch them in action and see some of their creations, particularly lit up at night time.