Spectacular Fire & Ice Festival returns this weekend - here's everything you need to know

A previous Fire and Ice Festival in Durham City

Follow the fire-lit trail to marvel at ice sculptures crafted by Glacial Art, the team behind Game of Thrones’ ice art, when the festival returns to Durham’s streets on Friday, February 21 and Saturday, February 22.

Organised by Durham BID, this year the 11 sculptures will have a Travelling Through Time theme, with a mix of local references as well as international figures.

What sculptures can I see?

Martin Culmer with son Eli taking a close look at the sculptures at Durham's Fire and Ice Festival in a previous year

·A T-Rex

·Steampunk Timepiece

·The DeLorean

·Viking Longship

Harry Hallam carving the ice under the watchful eye of sculptor Matt Foster, at Durham's Fire and Ice Festival.

·Miner (Miner’s Gala)

·The TARDIS

·Miner’s Lamp

·Stephenson’s Rocket

·Astronaut (Apollo 11)

·Durham Cathedral

·Eye of Agamotto

When and where can I see them?

You’ll be able to view the sculptures from 10am on February 21 and 22, 2020. You can download a trail map here.

Do I need tickets?

The festival is completely free and there’s no need to book.

What else is happening?

There will also be the return of the Chocolate Block where children will try and melt the ice to get their hands on a sweet treat. There will be live entertainment across both days of the festival, with ice carving demos taking place in the Market Place between noon and 4pm, and the opportunity for people to turn their hand to ice carving under the watchful eye of sculptors from Glacial Art between noon and 5pm at Millennium Place.

Turning up the heat

Each day the festival will conclude with a fire performer in the Market Place between 5pm and 5.15pm. A shorter performance suitable for younger children of the Night Time Spectacular will be performed in front of St Nicholas Church in the Market Place between 5.15pm and 5.25pm. The fire performer will then return at 5.45pm, before the slightly longer Night Time Spectacular is presented at 6pm, featuring shooting flames and dancing water jets coloured to look like shards of ice, set to a rousing soundtrack fit for the theme of the festival. The festival will then close at 6.15pm.

Half Term fun

See what else is going on over the half-term in our guide here.