{"id":16980,"date":"2026-01-20T08:53:23","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T06:53:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kultura.jelgava.lv\/?p=16980"},"modified":"2026-01-22T13:53:57","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T11:53:57","slug":"27-starptautiskais-ledus-skulpturu-festivals-iluzijas-speks-jelgava","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kultura.jelgava.lv\/en\/2026\/01\/20\/27-starptautiskais-ledus-skulpturu-festivals-iluzijas-speks-jelgava\/","title":{"rendered":"27th International Ice Sculpture Festival \"The Power of Illusion\" in Jelgava"},"content":{"rendered":"
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27th International Ice Sculpture Festival \"The Power of Illusion\" in Jelgava<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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20. January, 2026.<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t
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At the beginning of February, Jelgava invites you to immerse yourself in the winter atmosphere and experience the 27th International Ice Sculpture Festival, which this year will take place over two days \u2013 February 7 and 8. Internationally recognized ice sculptors will reveal their vision of the theme \"The Power of Illusion,\" inviting visitors to look beyond the obvious and experience moments where truth intertwines with deception. The festival will be complemented by an extensive entertainment program: sculpture duels, science shows, illusionists,\"\"<\/a> performances, ice games and a slide, children's plays and concerts with well-known Latvian musicians.<\/p>

\u00a0Sculptors from 12 countries will create the \u201cPower of Illusion\u201d in ice<\/strong><\/p>

Even before the festival took place, the jury selected this year's festival participants \u2013 the authors of the best works \u2013 in a sketch competition. This year, the competition attracted widespread international attention from sculptors \u2013 more than 40 applications were received, from which 20 sculptors from 12 countries were selected to participate in the festival: Argentina, Indonesia, Poland, Mongolia, the Netherlands, Ukraine, Spain, Finland, Germany, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia.<\/p>

Participants will arrive in Jelgava on February 1, and ice sculptures will be created from February 2 to 6. This year, artists will invite viewers to take a look at a world of illusions, where the boundary between reality and appearance becomes fragile and changeable. The sculptors' works will reveal both modern man's relationship with technology and the illusions created by nature, light and form, as well as the diversity of beauty, happiness and inner world perception. The festival will not only encourage visitors to admire ice art, but also to think about how differently each of us sees the world. It should be noted that two talented sculptors will create special ice photo sculptures that will invite visitors to become part of the artwork themselves \u2013 to step into the role of a queen, princess or the hero of the fairy tale \"The Naked King.\" Visitors will have the opportunity to capture themselves next to one of the world's most famous circus wonders \u2013 a rabbit appearing from a hat \u2013 as well as next to a symbolic photo sculpture in which a cat sees itself as a mighty lion in a mirror image, revealing the contrast between illusion and reality. Festival visitors will also be delighted by other impressive ice photo sculptures, objects frozen in ice, as well as various ice attractions and games.<\/p>

This year's festival free zone \u2013 J\u0101\u0146a \u010cakstes Boulevard<\/strong><\/p>

Pasta Island, the open-air concert hall \"M\u012btava\" and Slidotava (ice rink) will be the main venues, where visitors will be greeted by individual and team sculptures, as well as an extensive cultural program on two stages. J\u0101\u0146a \u010cakstes Boulevard, which in previous years was part of the paid area, will become a freely accessible festival zone this year. It will feature ice photo sculptures, attractions and carousels, as well as a winter \"hospitality zone\" with a wide range of delicacies and snacks, a selection of hot and cold drinks, and handicrafts. As darkness falls, the festive atmosphere will be enhanced by a laser show, which will be repeated and can be viewed from anywhere in the festival area.<\/p>

Festival program \u2013 diverse and suitable for the whole family<\/strong><\/p>

\"\"<\/a>The festival will be open from 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. Both days at the Pasta Island Public Ice Rink Slidotav\u0101<\/strong> visitors will have access to an ice games area, where they can join in checkers, table hockey, and domino tournaments, while younger visitors will enjoy the ice slide. The open-air concert hall \"M\u012btava\" will host children's performances, while Pasta salas skatuves<\/strong> Pasta Island stage will captivate curious minds with science shows featuring various experiments. Visitors will also be able to watch sculpture demonstrations, allowing them to follow along as artists create real ice sculptures. Illusionist performances will add to the festival atmosphere.<\/p>

On Saturday, the ice competition awards ceremony and festival opening will take place at the M\u012btava open-air concert hall, followed by a performance by the musical group Vint\u0101\u017ea and a special guest appearance by the charismatic band Instrumenti. Sunday evening's program will begin with the expressive Jelgava ensemble Tand\u0113ms trijat\u0101, followed by Normunds Rutulis together with the Slaveno R\u012bgas orchestra, and the festival will conclude with the internationally recognized and energetic ethno-music group Tautumeitas.<\/p>

Tickets can be purchased at a lower price until January 31<\/strong><\/p>

Tickets can be purchased at a discounted price until January 31 at Bi\u013ce\u0161u Parad\u012bze ticket offices throughout Latvia, at the Jelgava Culture House ticket office, and online at www.bilesuparadize.lv<\/a>The price of a one-day ticket for adults is \u20ac10, but for schoolchildren, students, pensioners, and people with disabilities, it is \u20ac5. Family tickets and tickets with the \"3+ Family Card\" are also available \u2013 the advance sale price is \u20ac20. Only at the Jelgava Culture House box office, tickets with the \"Jelgavas V\u0113stnesis\" Ice Sculpture Festival coupon or upon presentation of a Jelgava resident card, the price is \u20ac7, upon presentation of a Jelgava school student card \u2013 \u20ac4.<\/p>

From February 1, admission tickets for adults will cost \u20ac15, for schoolchildren, students, pensioners, and people with disabilities \u20ac7, and family tickets will cost \u20ac30. Children under the age of seven will be admitted to the festival free of charge. Each ticket purchased is a day ticket, which allows you to visit the festival grounds multiple times on the respective date.<\/p>

During the festival, ticket offices will be located on Pasta Island and on the J. \u010caktes Boulevard side of M\u012btava Bridge. All ticket locations will accept bank cards.<\/p>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>

In preparation for the event, traffic restrictions are planned in the city \u2013 from February 1, Pasta Island will be closed to visitors, leaving access to the public skating rink, children's playground and restaurant \"Pils\u0113tas elpa\", and from February 5, for safety reasons, the children's playground and skating rink area will also be restricted during construction, leaving access to the restaurant. During the creation of the sculptures and various technical works, from February 6 at 9 a.m. to February 9 at 2 a.m., traffic will be closed on J\u0101\u0146a \u010cakstes Boulevard between Elektr\u012bbas Street and Liel\u0101 Street, on Driksas Street between Akad\u0113mijas Street and J\u0101\u0146a \u010cakstes Boulevard, as well as on \u016adens Street.<\/p>

The festival is organized by the city of Jelgava and Jelgava House of Culture. For more information, visit Jelgava.lv and kultura.jelgava.lv.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Febru\u0101ra s\u0101kum\u0101 Jelgava aicina iegrimt ziemas noska\u0146\u0101s un piedz\u012bvot 27. Starptautisko Ledus skulpt\u016bru festiv\u0101lu, kas \u0161ogad norisin\u0101sies divas dienas – \u00a07. un 8. febru\u0101r\u012b. Starptautiskos konkursos atz\u012bti t\u0113lnieki led\u016b atkl\u0101s savu skat\u012bjumu par t\u0113mu \u201cIl\u016bzijas sp\u0113ks\u201d, aicinot apmekl\u0113t\u0101jus raudz\u012bties t\u0101l\u0101k par ac\u012bm redzamo un piedz\u012bvot br\u012b\u017eus, kuros paties\u012bba savijas ar maldiem. Festiv\u0101lu papildin\u0101s pla\u0161a izklaides […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16984,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ledus-skulpturas","category-zinas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kultura.jelgava.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kultura.jelgava.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kultura.jelgava.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kultura.jelgava.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kultura.jelgava.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16980"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/kultura.jelgava.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17001,"href":"https:\/\/kultura.jelgava.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16980\/revisions\/17001"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kultura.jelgava.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kultura.jelgava.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kultura.jelgava.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kultura.jelgava.lv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}