International Snow Festival

In the two villages of San Candido in the Upper Val Pusteria and San Vigilio di Marebbe in the Val Badia, for some decades the International Snow Festival has been taking place every year in January. The theme of the festival is "Cold Art - sculptures made of snow" and attracts participants from all over the world. To prepare the festival, fresh snow is pressed into cubes of 3x3x3 metres, which are then worked on with sensitivity by 10 international teams. The means allowed to work with are water and some minor tools such as barbed wire, shovels and saws.

First, the teams work for three full days in San Vigilio, then for other three days in San Candido, about 50 kilometres away. It is the local inhabitants and guests that make up the jury which means that also you can choose who will be the winner of the International Snow Festival! The cold winter temperatures allow that the artworks survive for some days or weeks, until nature decides to turn them into their original state: water (the images show the contest in San Vigilio).