New Year fireworks display in Saaremaa to be replaced with ice sculptures

Text Mark Taylor
Photo Ezra Jeffrey-Comeau / Unsplash

The Saaremaa municipal government has decided not to hold an official New Year’s fireworks display on the island this year. This decision is a growing trend in Estonia, with a number of other municipalities also deciding to remove fireworks from their New Year programs. According to  Saaremaa deputy Mayor Koit Voojärv, “the coronavirus situation has escalated around the world, there are many signs of danger, and that is one of the reasons for why Saaremaa municipality government decided against organizing a fireworks show this year.”

As a result of this decision being made so close to New Year, the local government did not have any alternative ideas for the celebrations. This has not stopped a number of Orissaare residents who have already started to create ice sculptures – with 3 already on display in Orissaare. In the opinion of sculptor Elo Liiv, the ice sculptures create “a similar ‘wow’-effect to fireworks. Going on to add that “you could use sound and lighting equipment too, which many Estonian cities already do.”

Depending on the weather, the sculptures could last well beyond New Year and far into 2022.

Source ERR

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