Ice On Whyte organizers protect sculptures from turning to puddles

The Ice On Whyte Festival has seen above-zero temperatures for the past three years, but this yearthestunning sculptures are protected bya large tent.

Ice carver Peter Fogarty showedoff his skills at the festival in Old Stratchona for the first time in 13 years. He wasworking on one of the few sculptures that sitsoutside of the tent.

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Making art from blocks of ice can be difficult for sculptorslike Fogartywhenwarmtemperatures cause the ice to melt not an ideal situation for a festival that features an ice carving competition.

"That's plagued a lot of winter festivals across Canada," Fogarty said."The same as mine last year. It was plus 6."

To prevent a similar situation this year, festival organizers set up thewhite tent to protect the ice from the sun.

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But next week, temperatures are expected to fall as low as-26C.

Jill Roszell, Development and Staff Manager of Ice on Whyte, saidthe sculptors still appreciate the protection, as it reduces the chances of their detailed carvings getting damaged.

"We had that large dump of snow. We didn't have to worry about it breaking anything off," Roszell said.

"In the past,we've been outside at the mercy of the elements. And we have some really intricate, delicate carvings at the festival from world-renowned artists, so we figured we should protect them a little bit."

The festival is on the corner of Whyte Avenue and Gateway Boulevard,markingits return to the spaceafter moving to 86th Avenue for the past few years.

The ice carving festival runs from Jan. 25-28 and Feb. 1-4.