The Great Ice Show starting to take shape at The Forks
Opens to the public on Jan. 25 and will feature more than 1,000 pieces of ice
The Great Ice Show is shaping up at The Forks in Winnipeg, despite warmer-than-average temperatures.
Dozens of Chinese sculptors — 40 in total — are carving more than 1,000 blocks of ice into buildings and monuments that will make up a crystal city.
Organizer Andy Zhao told CBC he is "very, very excited" now that his long-term project is becoming a reality.
"It is like a baby of mine," he said of the ice show, noting that he first started to work on the idea in 2009.
"I flew to Orlando to see their product. But this is the first year we will have real product. We can show them the real dream of what it will look like," he said.
Ice that will make up the sculptures is being brought in on a truck because the Red and Assiniboine rivers don't have ice that's thick enough yet.
The Great Ice Show opens on Jan. 25 in the city and it costs $25.