December 2, 2017
Ice Fantasy ice-skating park has opened its gates at Kongresni trg (aka Zvezda Park), with 2000 square metres of ice surface available to skaters from 09:00 to 0:00 every day, regardless of weather conditions. The park will stay open till January 7, 2018, and operate during all of the major holidays, including Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the New Year’s Eve.
The organisers claim to have gotten the idea for a large outdoor skating venue in the centre from other European cities, and especially from a similar event that takes place every year in Zagreb.
An open bar is located at the top of the pavilion where visitors can rent their skates, purchase tickets and store their bags. From the bar non-skaters can enjoy the view over the skating park and its surroundings while sipping hot tea, mulled wine and other beverages.
The park’s capacity is 600 skaters, with a team of former ice skating professionals, mostly hockey players, keeping things safe. Moreover, while there are ice paths set out through the trees with an average decline of 4%, so you can let gravity do most of the work, there are also cushions placed at the end of every slope to prevent any knocks if you can’t manage the turn.
For more on tickets, special theme nights and equipment rental, including a live webcam, go to the Ice Fantasy web-site.
Meanwhile a competitor, Ice Land, is nearing completion at the Emonika Parking Lot across the intersection from the Intercontinental Hotel near the train station.
Ice Land will consist 3000 square metres of ice, including a large skating field, a smaller hockey field, a curling runway, skating trails and a long ice slide. Ice Land will stay open for a bit longer than Ice Fantasy, until March 2018.
Details of the construction process and eventual opening date can be found at the organizer’s Facebook page.
