Snow Sculpture

During the 1950s, professionals, amateurs and children aim to build ephemeral monuments of a city in celebration, either in front of their own homes or on a chosen site. Rue Sainte-Thérèse was the most popular site until 1990.

 

Born out of the imagination of Quebeckers, snow sculpting became one of the Carnival’s key activities.  In 1973, the International Snow Sculpture Competition of Québec officially opened and four teams participated.  The following year, the Canadian component was created, and in 1982, the Québec component of the competition appeared. These two components took place at the same time over a three-day period, usually on the first weekend of the Québec Winter Carnival, while the International component lasted all of the following week.

 

To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the event, a fourth component was created. The Next Generation aimed to promote snow sculpture among the youth of Québec registered in a college or university art program, to ensure the continuity and the development of this art form.

 

Over the years, this prestigious activity underwent many modifications before becoming the outstanding presentation we now enjoy. That is how the International Snow Sculpture Competition forged an enviable credibility and reputation throughout the world. It is the oldest snow sculpture competition and one of the most prestigious. Every year, sculptors from the four corners of the earth meet the challenge to create a work of art with this ephemeral and fragile medium under extraordinary conditions.

 

Seeing a sculpture being created, discovering it and watching it come to life is pure magic. The many enthusiasts on site for the whole night, this magical night because of the powerful silence interrupted only by the final hammer blows of the artists, who create like a song in the night, confirming that the Québec Winter Carnival’s International Snow Sculpture Competition is an extraordinary event.