THOUSANDS of visitors to Barnoldswick's Festival of Ice and Fire had a truly magical day. The town became part of the wizarding world as ice sculptors from Liverpool based Glacial Arts crafted carvings of mythical creatures.
Children dressed as apprentice sorcerers, built their own broomsticks and hunted for enchanted items around the town centre.
There was a record turnout for the the third annual festival which this year was based around the theme 'magical Barnoldswick'. Visitors both young and old were invited to take part in a variety of activities in the town, including following an ice-trail, taking part in ice-sculpting, and Hogwart's wizarding workshops. The day ended with a spectacular fire show.
Councillor David Whipp, who spent the day dressed as Wizard Alastor Moody said : "The third annual Ice Trail event attracted record crowds. Thanks to local sponsors Silentnight and Filtrox there were more ice carvings than ever. Hundreds of families followed the Wizard Trail, collecting paraphernalia and meeting costumed characters from the wizarding world as they went. The day culminated in a fire show from Bradford's Cecil Green Arts."
An all-day 'Magical Makers' Market' hide secretive golden balls to be found by aspiring apprentice wizards as part of the Wizard Trail, while families enjoyed making essential broomsticks and costumes and had wizard gowns fitted in the civic hall; there were also activities at the town's library.
Magical Barnoldswick was also celebrated with an immersive display of local images on the big screen at The Rainhall Centre.
Barnoldswick Town Council organisers thanked all the volunteers involved with creating items for the Wizard Trail, the business venues that helped host the event and the companies sponsoring sculptures, together with Hope Technology which also supported the day.
The Ice and Fire Festival is part of a programme of three winter events in Barnoldswick which is supported by the Government's UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The next event is a Festival of Arts and Crafts on February 17.
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