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Northern Lights at the ICEHOTEL in Sweden

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The original

The ICEHOTEL® at Jukkasjärvi has the impressive claim of being the world’s first ice hotel and was developed from a concept beginning in 1989. A local businessman by the name of Yngve Bergqvist who ran a thriving tourism business in the summer decided to attract tourists in the winter by offering ice carving workshops and creating a small ice igloo as a gallery to showcase these designs.

This igloo grew in scale each year until one night a group of guests, equipped with reindeer skins and sleeping bags asked to spend the night, creating the concept of the ice hotel in the process!

Although Ice and snow hotels can be found across Lapland, the ICEHOTEL® remains the original.

An artistic marvel of ice and snow

When planning the ICEHOTEL® the creative team receive over 100 applications each spring from artists, photographers, engineers, architects, sculptors and craftspeople who offer incredible designs and themes for the hotel’s suites, chapel and ice bar.

Themes vary from year to year – with past examples including spring, chess, a dragon’s nest, polar bears, the big bang, origami, the London Underground, forest fairies, time and renaissance.

The Torne River, from which the artists’ natural materials are sourced, originates from northern glaciers and Lake Torneträsk, one of Sweden’s largest bodies of freshwater. The water here flows at a steady pace and is free of pollutants ensuring that the ice is crystal clear and entirely natural.

The creative team here specialise in ephemeral art – installations that exist only for a limited period of time. Light design is also an important part of the finishing touches of the ICEHOTEL® with light designers working closely with the creators of each element to ensure their remarkable work is enhanced as much as possible.

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The Aurora Zone was born from a desire to share Mother Nature’s greatest wonder with our clients. We’ve explored the destinations, researched the science, and fallen in love with the Scandinavian way of life. It’s our mission to pass this knowledge on to you, providing you with the very best chance of experiencing the magic for yourself on your Northern Lights holiday.

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