Thursday, 13 January
On the territory of the Kola Peninsula was held the 4th ethnological expedition. During winter holidays and weekends, when the rein-breeders came home to get some rest, the scientists acquainted with rituals and customs of the native peoples: Saami and Komi. The expedition was held within the framework of the federal program "The Culture of the Russian North", and supported by the plenipotentiary of the president in the North-Western federal district and the Governor of the Murmansk region. The scientists chose Kirovsk as the base of their research, here for two days ethnographers got ready for the route. The members of the expedition chose cross-country vehicle as the transport means and the shooting group of the channel "Culture" accompanied them. The film will be shown on the festival in Oxford next year.
On the 25-30 of January in Murmansk will take place the fifth international festival of snow and ice figures "The Northern Fantasy", that is organized every year. About 15 teams from Russia and other foreign countries and CIS countries are expected to participate in the festival. Five teams will sculpture their works from ice and other 10 teams will use snow. The administration of the city is to provide the participants of the festival with snow and ice cubes. According to the information agency "Novosti", the administration doesn’t doubt the fact that the festival will take place. The ice is taken from the lakes, that are frozen enough by this time of the year, and the ice is thick enough to cut the cubes of necessary size. "But the program of the festival on the snow sculpture is endangered, because of the little amount of snow"- the representative of the administration noticed. He explained that snow cubes must be cut of clean snow, smoothed in natural way. But this year in the city or in the environs it is impossible to find the snow that can be used for the figures. The representative from the administration reminded that the same situation was in the year 2000 when the festival was canceled because of the weather conditions. The only hope of the organizers is snowfalls, which are possible in Murmansk in the near future. But according to the meteorological center in Murmansk, this hope is hardly to become true. The amount of the precipitation in the Murmansk region is just 50-70 % from the norm, and the meteorologists don’t expect enormous snowfalls on the territory of the region. Festival "Northern Fantasy" has been organized since 1999. During this time sculptors from Sweden, Finland, Byelorussia and different cities of Russia have been competing in the mastery of turning the cubes of ice and snow into pieces of art.
On the 25-30 of January in Murmansk will take place the fifth international festival of snow and ice figures "The Northern Fantasy", that is organized every year. About 15 teams from Russia and other foreign countries and CIS countries are expected to participate in the festival. Five teams will sculpture their works from ice and other 10 teams will use snow. The administration of the city is to provide the participants of the festival with snow and ice cubes. According to the information agency "Novosti", the administration doesn’t doubt the fact that the festival will take place. The ice is taken from the lakes, that are frozen enough by this time of the year, and the ice is thick enough to cut the cubes of necessary size. "But the program of the festival on the snow sculpture is endangered, because of the little amount of snow"- the representative of the administration noticed. He explained that snow cubes must be cut of clean snow, smoothed in natural way. But this year in the city or in the environs it is impossible to find the snow that can be used for the figures. The representative from the administration reminded that the same situation was in the year 2000 when the festival was canceled because of the weather conditions. The only hope of the organizers is snowfalls, which are possible in Murmansk in the near future. But according to the meteorological center in Murmansk, this hope is hardly to become true. The amount of the precipitation in the Murmansk region is just 50-70 % from the norm, and the meteorologists don’t expect enormous snowfalls on the territory of the region. Festival "Northern Fantasy" has been organized since 1999. During this time sculptors from Sweden, Finland, Byelorussia and different cities of Russia have been competing in the mastery of turning the cubes of ice and snow into pieces of art.
On the latitude of Murmansk finished the Polar Night, which lasted for 40 days, when the sun didn’t rise above the horizon. "On Tuesday the sun appeared above the horizon for the first time and the light day lasted for 19 minutes, but already on Wednesday the length of the day comprised one hour and three minutes", – the head of the meteorological center Natalia Rybchak explained. Also she noticed, that the duration of the light day will become longer till the Polar Day, when the sun doesn’t set below the horizon. The Polar Day will last since 22nd of May till 22nd of July. According to Rybchak, after the Polar Night the citizens of Murmansk will be able to see the sun only at the end of the week, as the skyline is shielded by the hills. The sun will appear completely in two weeks. The Polar Night is the additional trial for the organisms of the northerners. The medical men advise people to take more vitamins in this period, eat more fresh fruits and vegetables, visit solariums, do physical exercises and often take walks in the open air
