A Moody Gardens’ employee walks up stairs made of ice at the Ice Land exhibit on Nov. 13, 2025. (Photo Credit: Julianna Washburn/HPM)
An ice sculpture depicts Mount Rushmore at Moody Gardens’ Ice Land exhibit on Nov. 13, 2025. (Photo Credit: Julianna Washburn/HPM)
Ice carvers from Harbin, China sculpt blocks of ice at Moody Gardens’ Ice Land exhibit on Nov. 13, 2025. (Photo Credit: Julianna Washburn/HPM)
An ice sculpture depicts Big Ben at Moody Gardens’ Ice Land exhibit on Nov. 13, 2025. (Photo Credit: Julianna Washburn/HPM)
An ice carver from Harbin, China sculpts ice to depict Santa Claus at Moody Gardens’ Ice Land exhibit on Nov. 13, 2025. (Photo Credit: Julianna Washburn/Houston Public Media)
Just down the street from the Galveston shore, at Moody Gardens, sits a 28,000-square foot tent with 2 million pounds of ice inside it. Thirty ice carvers from Harbin, China, have spent the past month transforming the ice blocks into shapes like the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and Big Ben in London.
Moody Gardens will open its Ice Land exhibit for its 11th year on Saturday. To fit this year’s “Christmas Around the World” theme, ice sculptures will depict monuments around the world such as Mount Rushmore in the U.S. and the Great Sphinx of Giza in Egypt, along with slides made of ice and a frozen ice bar.
“Travel is easier than ever, but a lot of people don’t travel, so it’s one of those cool things where you get to see the Eiffel Tower and then you get to see the Parthenon all in one place,” Moody Gardens’ Jared Schaller said.
The ice carvers chip away at the 300-pound ice blocks by hand, using either hand tools or chainsaws, and have 37 days to complete the sculptures. Inside the large tent, the temperature sits at 9 degrees Fahrenheit in order to keep the sculptures frozen.
“This week we have the Trevi Fountain,” Schaller said. “That’s brand new and it was just a huge block of ice last week.”
Schaller said inspiration for Ice Land came from the Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival in China, the home of the master ice carvers who traveled to Galveston to shape Ice Land.
The exhibit will run from Saturday through Jan. 3. Tickets cost $35 for ages 13-64 and $29 for younger children and seniors.
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