"The 'Kronshled' Ice Sculpture Festival opened on Saturday on Hare Island in St Petersburg, transforming the historic site into a glowing winter fairy tale filled with illuminated works of ice art. Footage shows visitors strolling among the sculptures, stopping to admire shimmering installations depicting well-known fairy-tale characters. "The exhibition is magnificent. This is my first time attending this exhibition. I am simply amazed, astonished and delighted. I am sending all [the photographs] to my grandchildren," said Svetlana, one of the visitors. Project director Nikolai Labutin said a total of 21 sculptors took part in creating the ice masterpieces. "Here you will see compositions dedicated to the peoples who inhabit our vast homeland. The reason is to develop domestic tourism, so that we ourselves can learn about our country, so that we can understand the beauty in which we live, how many people inhabit our country, and how they are united by myths, fairy tales, and philosophy. All of this is reflected in our 14 compositions," he said. The 'Kronshled' festival, hosted at the Peter and Paul Fortress, will remain open to visitors until January 14. This year, artists from Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus are presenting works under the theme 'Fairy-tale and Hospitable St Petersburg'. "