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Tuesday, 22 November 2011

Ice maidens








I don't know if other cities do the same thing, but Bradford usually has some kind of festivities in the city centre to mark the 'Grand Switching-on of the Christmas Lights'.  It always seems too early to me to be thinking about Christmas in mid-November, but I guess the shops need the trade, particularly at the moment.

This year's 'Spectacular' was on the theme of 'Fire and Ice' so I went along to see what it was all about.  These two young ladies were walking around on stilts, looking rather beautiful and mysterious.  I suppose they were Ice Maidens or Ice Queens.





 
I didn't stay for the show at dusk, when there was to be some kind of theatrical event and fireworks.  (Not much is allowed to come between me and my Saturday night viewing of the TV show 'Strictly Come Dancing'!)

The building behind the girls is Bradford's ornate City Hall, another beautiful building built in Italianate style.  Designed by Saltaire's architects, Lockwood and Mawson, it was opened in 1873, shortly after Saltaire was finished.

13 comments:

  1. They are super costumes and make me feel cold looking at them. Christmas has certainly sprung upon us fast this year. I haven't done any shopping yet.

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  2. Those young ladies are absolutely fabulous dressed like this!It's mid november, but I already almost finished my Dickens village..:o).This being done, I can go on preparing other decorations.

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  3. Now that's a lovely way to set the scene for Christmas! The costumes are marvellous and you captured these two actresses perfectly.

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  4. Gorgeous Ice Queens. I'm chuckling, because hubs and I do keep our Saturday evenings free to watch SCD too, hehe.

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  5. A spectacular Spectacular!
    I can't understand why watching a fat bloke being shot out of a cannon would have more appeal!
    :o)

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  6. The young women and their costumes are lovely. Jim

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  7. Great captures! I thought ice and fire were incompatible. These maidens seem to have flames made of ice. I suppose anything is possible if one has a good imagination, as the creators of these costumes certainly have!

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  8. These mysterious maidens would be fun to see in person. The Christmas lights in downtown Hartford are lit the Friday after Thanksgiving (i.e., in three days). There are some outlying areas that have already lit their exhibitions. I don't know of any that feature ice maidens.

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  9. Hi Jenny .. beautiful costumes and the girls' too look quite pretty. Love the bit of history and I bet their show was good in the evening .. hope Strictly was worth it! Cheers Hilary

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  10. Excellent shots of these ice maidens. I don't even want to think about winter OR Christmas... hum bug...! LOL!

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  11. Great background for these ladies. The photos are wonderful!

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  12. Wonderful costumes -- I love the fingers!

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  13. Oh it looks like so much fun! love how you captured them. ~Lili

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