An annual celebration featuring ice castles is drawing crowds in New Hampshire. The art installations are created by harvesting and arranging thousands of icicles and then drenching them with sprinklers.

NORTH WOODSTOCK, N.H. (AP) — An annual architectural celebration of ice is up and running again in New Hampshire and several other states.

That’s how much ice was used to build the popular Ice Castles attraction in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. Learn why it opened early this year, and what you can do if you visit, here.

The Ice Castles in North Woodstock, New Hampshire, are set to open this weekend, inviting visitors to enter a world of frosty enchantment.

New Hampshire’s Ice Castles will open on Friday, one of the earliest opening dates in the attraction’s history, according to the company. The enormous, frozen attraction, which is located annually in North Woodstock,

The Ice Castles opened on Jan. 20 last year. In 2023, a mild winter forced the attraction to have its latest opening ever on Jan. 27. Standifird says visitors can expect a new castle design this year, as well as nearly double the typical amount of lights on the quarter-mile "Mystic Forest Light Walk"

The CEO of Ice Castles says this opening day is one of the earliest in the history of the New Hampshire attraction.