Frequently asked questions –
Constructing the SnowCastle
Is the SnowCastle built anew every year?
Yes. We start the construction of the SnowCastle always in the beginning of December as soon as the weather is appropriate for making the snow: the temperature has to be continuously at least -8 degrees Celsius. The construction-work usually takes about 6 weeks, and then we have the opening-ceremony at the end of January. The SnowCastle remains open all the way to the beginning of April, after which the sun is usually shining so brightly and warmly that it creates cosmetic damages to the appearances of the SnowCastle-structures.
Are there any support-structures in the SnowCastle?
No. In constructing the SnowCastle we use moulds, on which we blow the snow with a specific snow-blower. When the snow has hardened, we remove the moulds.
What happens to the SnowCastle when it is closed at the end of the season?
Unlike that it is usually understood, the structures of the SnowCastle would last much longer than unto the beginning of the month of April. When the SnowCastle is closed for the season, the structures are crushed so that they would melt more quickly. From time to time the snow is pushed with a tractor-loader unto the shore of the Gulf of Bothnia, and so it melts into the sea. By the middle of May the whole SnowCastle area will be empty of snow, and the summer-restaurants by the quay at the Inner Port of Kemi will begin their season.
Where do you get the ice used for ice-sculpting?
All the ice as well as the snow that we use in constructing the SnowCastle, we take from the Gulf of Bothnia, by which the SnowCastle is rising every winter. From this sea-water we blow the snow needed for the construction, and from the ice we make the ice-tables for the SnowRestaurant as well as sculpt all the ice-sculptures.
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