Ice, ice baby

A winter wonderland awaits at Marina Bay Sands, where 29 ice scupltures have been carved on site for an ice art exhibition. Called 2Degree Ice Art 2013-2014, the display opened to the public Saturday.

For the next six months, visitors can have a taste of winter in a minus 15 deg C space, from beautiful sculptures of world landmarks, such as Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, the Statue Of Liberty and the Merlion, to fake snow and ice slides.

A 35,000 sq ft hall, located next to Marina Bay Sands Hotel and across from the Sands Expo and Convention Centre, has been set up just for the exhibition.

It took 20 professional ice sculptors from China three weeks to complete the about 30 sculptures out of 450 tonnes of clear and coloured ice. The sculptors are members of the Harbin International Ice Lantern Art Association who have carved ice and snow sculptures for the world-renowned Harbin Ice Festival. The month-long event takes place in the Chinese city every January.

The exhibition is organised by home-grown events company Century Ice Wonderland.

He hopes to draw more than 100,000 visitors to the exhibition, which costs $3.5 million to set up and maintain. The bulk of the expenses go to keeping the exhibition hall at sub-zero temperature.

Seven air compressors and 14 fan units are in place to keep the ice from melting. Ten maintenance workers are on hand to de-ice the fans and walkways, and four ice sculptors are on standby to perform any necessary touch-ups. It is so cold in the hall that gloves and coats are needed. While gloves are included in the cost of the ticket, visitors can either rent a winter coat for $5 or wear their own.

This is the first ice art event for the company, which plans to hold ice art displays in other South-east Asian countries, including Malaysia and Thailand.

Book it

2DEGREE ICE ART 2013-2014

Where: Corner of Sheares Link and Bayfront Avenue, next to Marina Bay Sands Hotel

When: Tomorrow to May 15, 10am to 10pm daily

Admission: $32 an adult, $26 a child, free for children under nine or below 1.2m tall if accompanied by an adult; $5 for a coat rental

Info: www.facebook.com/iceart

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