Colors of Zwolle - traditions, festivals, mentality and lifestyle

Every winter, Zwolle hosts an interesting event that attracts travelers from different countries of the world. This is the Netherlands Ice Sculptures Festival that traditionally starts at the beginning of December and lasts until the end of January. As natural climatic conditions do not make it possible to keep ice sculptures frozen, the festival’s organizers install special tents that maintain the necessary low temperature. Masters from England, France, Canada, Czech Republic, Portugal, and many other countries arrive in Zwolle in order to participate in this famous event. Each of them tries to amaze visitors with their original ideas and create the most eye-catching and unique ice sculptures.

Besides an exhibition of ice sculptures, which is, without a doubt, the main event of the festival, there are many different master classes and competitions, music performances and fair trades. In winter, there are always many guests in Zwolle. They come to admire the beautiful ice village and take photos with the most gorgeous ice sculptures. Moreover, there are special playgrounds for children where they can play snowballs, slide down different slides, or even make their own snow sculptures.

Several years ago, the popular festival adopted one more good tradition. Before the opening of the event, skilled masters create a whole ice hotel. Everyone is welcome to book a room in the ice hotel, but guests need to keep in mind that the conditions are quite specific. For example, the constant temperature in all rooms is -10C. Such a low temperature is important to protect the ice hotel from melting. Rooms at this hotel have all the necessary furniture and amenities, but all of them, as it is not hard to guess, are made of ice. Copyright www.orangesmile.com

Beds, special furniture, décor items – each detail in the rooms was handmade by experienced masters from shapeless ice chunks. It should be mentioned that tools used by ice sculptors are quite unusual. To create their masterpieces, ice sculptors use chainsaws, gas burners, various knives, and rasps. Some sculptors even use smoothing irons. The Netherlands Ice Sculptures Festival has become one of the most original events in the country. Numerous residents of the nearby towns, as well as tourists from other continents, arrive in the city to attend the popular festival. Zwolle is one of a few resorts in the country that is equally exciting to visit in winter and summer.

Zwolle will definitely please its guests with a variety of interesting sporting events. For instance, the city hosts Ster van Zwolle at the beginning of March. This is a popular cycling competition that brings together teams from all regions of the Netherlands. Needless to say, the event attracts hundreds of viewers who want to see the spectacular show. 10 mijl Zwolle Zuid Festival, which takes place in the middle of April, is the right time to cheer your favorite marathon runner. By the way, it is not necessary to remain a viewer as everyone is welcome to participate in the running competition. There are several programs in the festival: 5 miles, 10 miles, a route for children, and a route for teenagers. There are also several events for fans of figure skating. Night Skate Zwolle is the most famous of them all. This festival is a monthly one, and it lasts from May until September.

In Zwolle, vacationers can easily combine the useful with the pleasant – they can watch amazing theatrical open-air performances and enjoy a memorable holiday in the city. For this purpose, consider visiting the city at the beginning of June as this is the time for Zwolle Unlimited. Every year, the event has a new theme, and all performers must correspond to it. This is the time when attendees have a unique opportunity to listen to short stories. Despite the fact that many of these stories are well-known to everyone (for example, stories about the Little Red Riding Hood or King Arthur), they have never been so interesting. Prove that yourself and visit Zwolle during this amazing event.

At the end of May, the city hosts Lentemarkt/Braderie Zwolle Zuid. This is a popular fair trade, during which visitors have a chance to buy truly unique items. Besides that, visitors may be interested in numerous master classes. There are also exciting events for children – including theatrical, dancing, and music performances. People, who love dancing, will be simply in love with Dance 4 Liberation Festival. As a rule, this event starts at the beginning of May. It is an open-air festival that usually takes place on the central squares of the city and near to the main landmarks of Zwolle. Dance 4 Liberation marks the start of the summer season, namely, the trouble-free time full of fun. This festival is confined to the national holiday – Liberation Day.

Besides that, traditional state holidays of the Netherlands are also widely recognized in Zwolle. First of all, this is Koningsdag that falls to April 27. All main streets of the city change the color to orange for this holiday as orange is the national color of the Netherlands. People also dress in orange and bring something orange with them. That said, streets also become orange for one more holiday, Nieuwjaar (New Year). By the way, having arrived in the city during the Christmas (Kerstmis) and New Year season, don’t forget to try Oliebollen (popular traditional dessert). The delicious doughnuts are available for sale in numerous fair trades that appear on the main squares of the city.