See some of the world’s best ice-carving talent
We are thrilled to welcome back 8 teams of internationally acclaimed ice carving artists for the return of Edmonton’s International Ice Carving Competition, now called Chiseled. Each team has 34 hours and 15 blocks of ice to complete their sculpture. You can watch these teams create January 24 – 26, 2023, downtown in the ICE District Plaza. After that, you can view the exhibit and vote for your favourite until February 28, 2023. This exhibit is free and open to the public.
You can find us in the ICE District.
Chiseled 2023 Competition
The Chiseled 2023 competition will feature the following teams:
- Carvin’ Buddies – Scott Harrison from Calgary and Ross Baisas from the Philippines/Montreal creating Poseidon
- Elegant Dream – Mowafak Nema from Iraq/Ottawa and Don Lowing from the United States creating Ishtar and the Deer
- Exotic Duo – Kee Gawah from Malaysia/Sweden and Fermin Gomez from Mexico/Calgary creating Easy Ride
- Kram & Ffilc – Clifford Vacheresse from Edmonton and Mark Berge from Courtney, BC creating Behind the surFace
- License to Chill – Victor Dagatan from the Phillipines/USA and Andrew Zoller from Calgary creating The Flight of Passage
- Mad & Laine – Yann Blanchard from France/Calgary and Ken Harper from Ladysmith, BC creating Snack
- The Prairie Dogs – Larry MacFarlane and Brad Froehlich from Winnipeg creating
- Steve & Rusty – Steve Buzak from Edmonton and Rusty Cox from Fairmont Hot Springs, BC creating Ocean Glider
FAQs about Ice Carving
Carving ice is made through a special process that freezes water from the bottom up in a Clinebell machine. This process allows the impurities to rise to the top and be trimmed off, resulting in a crystal clear block of ice. Each block of ice is 1M (40″) X .5M (20″) X .25M (10″) and weighs 135 KG (297 LBS).
It is a fascinating process, visit our supplier, Ice Culture, and check out some of their videos.
This competition will have a People’s Choice Award, as well as being professionally judged. Our judges look at the following criteria when considering their score:
First impression – is the sculpture attractive?
Structure – how did the sculptors use the ice?
Skill and technique – how technical and challenging is the design?
Details – how refined are the details based on the carving conditions?
Artistry – what is the composition, balance, flow of the design?
Creativity – how original is the piece?
Artistic merit – overall beauty and lasting impression
Absolutely! There are amazing photo opportunities at both locations. The carvings are lit up at night and are truly spectacular. We really appreciate when our guests share photos on social media. Please tag us @chiseledyeg and use the hashtag #chiseled2023 so we can show them off too.
PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH THE CARVINGS – enjoy them with your eyes.
Each of the ice carvings in the competition area weighs over 2,000 kgs (4,500 lbs) and can seriously injure you if a piece breaks off.