The Festival of Ice Sculptures has been opened in St. Petersburg. The event was postponed twice due to above-zero temperature.

      However, the organizers took measures for keeping the Arctic ice artworks in their entirety and good condition.

      The Festival of Ice Sculptures has long become traditional for the Peter and Paul Fortress. For over 10 years already it has been one of the most vivid and remarkable events of the Petersburg winter.

      This year the festival dwells on the topic of Russian fairy tales.  Multifigured ice compositions with fairy tale characters admired since childhood will be created by sculptors from St. Petersburg and the CIS countries.

      The exhibition of ice sculptures will work till the beginning of March. A new sculpture will be created for every holiday that falls into this period - Christmas, St. Valentine's Day, the Defender of the Fatherland Day, and Maslenitsa (Pancake Week).

      Because of warm weather in St. Petersburg this winter the sculptures have been protected with special thermotents equipped with cooling devices.