Each March, Mongolia celebrates the Khuvsgul Ice Festival on the country’s most famous lake.

The event includes horse-drawn sleighs, elaborate ice sculptures, traditional food and vibrant competitions including ice skating, ice sumo wrestling, tug of war, ice ger building and dog sledding – all on the dark blue ice of the frozen lake. During the Khuvsgul Ice Festival, the lake after which the festival is named becomes a frozen playground for locals and visitors alike. This year the festival will take place on 2-3 March. During the festival, organisers plan to build an ice town on the lake.

Currently, the thickness of the ice has reached 90 cm in the festival area and 50 cm near the Wishing Rock (Khusliin Khad).