With the blessing of Metropolitan Evgeny of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturye, the XIX International Festival of Ice Sculpture "Bethlehem Star" will be held at the Memorial Church on Blood in Yekaterinburg.
The festival, which has become a hallmark of Christmas Yekaterinburg and a point of attraction for thousands and thousands of Uralians, will traditionally begin with a prayer service at the Memorial Church on Blood, which will be held on Sunday, December 29.
22 teams of craftsmen from many Russian cities will create ice masterpieces at the Memorial Church on Blood: Moscow region, Yekaterinburg and the region, Izhevsk, St. Petersburg, Tver, Ryazan, Saratov, Irkutsk and the region.
The festival is attended not only by individual sculptors, but also by entire creative families. In some families, continuity arises and artisan dynasties are formed, repeatedly participating in this competition.
Russian Russian Orthodox Church, history of Russia, and Russian culture are among the themes of the festival that draw viewers not only to the feast of the Nativity of Christ, but also to the history of the Russian Orthodox Church, the history of Russia, and Russian culture. The participants of the International Ice Festival have prepared sketches on the following topics:
1. The Nativity of Christ.
2. 80th anniversary of the Victory over Nazi Germany and the surrender of Japan (anniversaries – Marshal Vasily Chuikov, Marshal Alexander Vasilevsky, intelligence officer Richard Sorge, pioneer hero Valya Kotik, singer Lydia Ruslanova).
3. Book history, Slavic writing (1210 years of St. Methodius (Cyril and Methodius). The European pioneer printer Johann Gutenberg printed the first Bible in 1455. Francis Skarino printed the first books in the Church Slavonic language (1525). In 1525, the German printer Fiol Schweipolt was born, who stood at the origins of Slavic printing in Cyrillic script; 505 years of the first printer Ivan Fedorov).
4. Great commanders (805 years since the birth of Prince Alexander Nevsky of Novgorod and Vladimir; 675 years – Prince Dmitry Donskoy; 295 years – Commander Alexander Suvorov; 280 years – Admiral Fyodor Fyodorovich Ushakov; 280 years – Commander Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov).
5. Aviation and Space (100 years since the birth of aircraft designer Alexei Tupolev; 125 years since the birth of aircraft designer Semyon Lavochkin, 130 years since the birth of aircraft designer Pavel Sukhoi, 90 years since the birth of cosmonaut German Titov. In 1960, the Vostok unmanned spacecraft was launched; 1970 – Lunokhod-1 first entered the Moon, Luna-16 delivered lunar soil to Earth).
6. Russian playwrights (280 years since the birth of Denis Ivanovich Fonvizin, 230 years since the birth of Alexander Sergeevich Griboyedov).
The results will traditionally be announced on January 7, the feast of the Nativity of Christ.
Prizes will be distributed among the authors of the ice sculptures. The winners and prize-winners are awarded diplomas and prizes, and all participants are awarded certificates.