The Mayor of Torrejón de Ardoz, Alejandro Navarro Prieto, and the director of the Mágicas Navidades Park, Rafael González Villanueva, have unveiled the details of the 5th edition of the Ice Festival, the only international ice sculptor competition held in Spain. The result is an exhibition that recreates a marine universe through ice sculptures and will be open to the public from November 14 to January 10.
This year, the festival brings together 22 artists from 14 countries, who have shaped marine and mythological creatures in a 2,000 m² exhibition. A highlight is a life-size 15-meter humpback whale, along with its calf, emerging from reefs and schools of fish. Figures of Neptune, a giant kraken engulfing a galleon, and a medusa woman will also be featured.
The exhibition, held within Mágicas Navidades de Torrejón de Ardoz, will also showcase sharks, seahorses, manta rays, and abyssal fish, among other creatures. Lighting and sound design will aim to recreate the underwater atmosphere.
Before the public opening, from November 7 to 13, 10 teams of sculptors worked with blocks of clear and white ice, using tools such as chainsaws and chisels. Among the participants are world champions like Steve Brice, Aleksei Andreev, and Vaclav Lemon, as well as special guests from Japan, including Junichi Nakamura and Shinichi Sawamura.
An official jury will announce the competition's verdict on November 14, evaluating the works based on artistic and technical criteria such as creativity, expression, difficulty, composition, proportions, precision, dimensions, and the ability to convey movement. The top three finishers will receive cash prizes of €10,000, €7,500, and €5,000, respectively, and a Public Prize will be awarded.
The sculptures, crafted from high-quality crystalline ice, will be preserved in a hermetically sealed facility at -9 ºC. The exhibition, organized by Productores de Sonrisas, is characterized by the ephemeral nature of its artworks, designed to disappear over time.
