It’s been 14 years since Gaylord National Resort introduced the Washington, D.C. area to their winter wonderland made of ice. Starting next month, their latest creation will open to the public just in time for the holiday season.
Starting on Nov. 15, “A Charlie Brown Christmas” will take over the resort’s nearly half an acre big tent until Dec. 28.
“We take a 17,000-square-foot tent that we built out on our back patio, reduce the temperature to nine degrees, bring in 2 million pounds of ice and bring in over 30 carvers from Harbin, China, 6,000 miles away, to create ‘A Charlie Brown Christmas,'” said Kirk Trutner, director of special events and entertainment for the Gaylord National Resort.
It’s been nearly 59 years since CBS aired “A Charlie Brown Christmas” for the first time. Now, you and your family can enter a tent in Maryland and explore the same world the Peanuts gang is in with sculptures depicting 12 different scenes from the beloved holiday special.
One of the artists that will spend 31 days creating the sculptures is Mi Zhaohui. He is also from Harbin, China, which is nicknamed “The City of Ice.”
Speaking through a translator, Mi told WTOP, “I love this profession, and I studied art before at school. … My favorite part of carving is to focus on the details of the characters, to focus on the facial expressions.”
Mi studied art in college and said Charlie Brown and Snoopy are his favorite characters from the world of Peanuts. While he looked around the freezing tent, he smiled and spoke about how it feels to create these sculptures.
“My artwork is recognized by the audience. I feel very proud, and it’s a great pleasure to share the joy of ice,” Mi said.
Not everyone working on this project is from China. Project manager Gavin Sorensen is from Montana.
“I’ve been doing this for 10 years now,” said Sorensen. “I love doing this stuff.”
Sorensen said he is amazed by the work of the 37 artists.
“I mean, the talent that these guys have is incredible. A lot of these guys aren’t just ice carvers, they’re wood carvers, they do all different forms of art,” said Sorensen. “They work 33 days straight, 8 (a.m.) in the morning till (6 p.m.) at night. They’re in here pretty much the entire time working.”
Not only has Sorensen traveled around with the artists here in the United States, last February, he traveled to their hometowns in China.
“China, in the winter time, it gets down to 26 (degrees) below zero. We were there for 10 days. The first day wasn’t bad. The next day, the wind started blowing, and it got colder, and that was a tough day. It was bone-chilling,” said Sorensen.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
