WIN a family ticket to Manchester's Ice Village spectacular!

Date published: 26 October 2018


Manchester's Cathedral Gardens is to be transformed into Britain’s first-ever Ice Village this Christmas, and you and your family could visit for FREE if you win our latest terrific Chronicle competition.

The frosty festive village promises 'breathtaking ice attractions' and will feature an ice bar and an ice cave housing a frozen toy factory and a Santa's grotto.

A vast steam train crafted entirely from ice will be the starting point of what's being billed as an 'unforgettable journey', continuing on to the frozen toy factory where Santa’s team of helpers will be busy making toys in time for Christmas .

A team of the world’s best ice artists have already begun to hand carve hundreds of intricate ice sculptures (pictured below) especially for the immersive walk-through experience, which opens in a fortnight.

There’ll be mischievous elves, enchanted toys, and arctic animals including snow foxes and polar bears, with each piece hand carved from huge blocks of ice, all set against a factory backdrop of ice cogs and pistons to pay tribute to Manchester’s industrial heritage.

In fact the story of Manchester will be woven throughout the cave, with ice sculptures referencing famous local figures from history, including a female train driver with a ‘Votes For Women’ badge as a nod to suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, as well as other legendary Mancunian symbols like football, music and Manchester’s worker bee emblem.

Incredibly, everything from the most delicate ice robin to Santa’s frozen throne, is being carved from 250 tonnes of solid ice - all of which will be kept at a chilly minus-10º inside a massive freezer structure installed on the site in the days before it opens.

The Ice Village site will be free to enter, and there’ll be free activities to enjoy, but visitors will need to purchase tickets for the ice cave ice sculpture exhibition, for Santa’s grotto, and for the ice skating rink.

It will be open 11am to 9pm daily from Friday, November 9 until Saturday, January 5 (except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year's Day).

Tickets are now available via the website: www.icevillage.co.uk

However, to WIN a family ticket (two adults, two children), all you need to do email us your name and daytime contact details to: news@oldham-chronicle.co.uk

We'll choose a winner next Friday, November 2, at 2pm.

Good luck!