A major ice and snow festival is due to open in northern China, where tens of thousands of tourists flock to see impressive ice sculptures lit up with bright colours.

The annual International Snow and Ice festival in Harbin is believed to be the biggest event of its kind in the world, and holds the Guinness World Record for the biggest single ice sculpture.

The Ice and Snow World park within the festival covers an overall area of 800,000 square metres featuring more than 2,000 ice sculptures made from a total of 180,000 cubic metres of ice, which is harvested directly from the frozen Songhua River.

Temperatures in Harbin, the capital of China’s northern Heilongjiang province, don't get much above average highs of -12C during the day in January and drop to -24C at night, meaning the artwork on displays stays in pristine condition for weeks on end.

According to the South China Morning Post, the exhibition will open for a trial period from Christmas Day, ahead of its official opening on 5 January. It is part of Harbin’s International Ice and Snow festival, which runs until the end of February.

The festival is bigger this year than on previous occasions, causing construction to start earlier than usual. Wang Zangyu, executive manager of Harbin’s Ice and Snow World, told the newspaper last week: “Usually work starts around 5 December, but this year we began to dig up the ice required for the models and sculptures on 1 December. There are almost 10,000 people working in the park and construction is half complete.”

The annual festival attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year. The China Global Television Network (CGTN) reports that this year’s huge sculptures are expected to set a new world record.

Harbin Ice and Snow World: in pictures Show all 8 1 /8 Harbin Ice and Snow World: in pictures Harbin Ice and Snow World: in pictures Tourists look at the illuminated ice sculptures Rex Features Harbin Ice and Snow World: in pictures Harbin Ice and Snow World Rex Features Harbin Ice and Snow World: in pictures View of the illuminated ice sculptures at the 19th Harbin Ice and Snow World Rex Features Harbin Ice and Snow World: in pictures 19th Annual Harbin Ice and Snow World Rex Features Harbin Ice and Snow World: in pictures Tourists look at the illuminated ice sculptures Rex Features Harbin Ice and Snow World: in pictures Aerial view of the illuminated ice sculptures Rex Features Harbin Ice and Snow World: in pictures The 800,000-square-meter park Rex Features Harbin Ice and Snow World: in pictures Tourists look at the illuminated ice sculptures Rex Features