Have you ever been to an ice bar?

Ice bars originated in Swedish Lapland in the mid 1990s, and quickly became popular across the globe. The first time I visited one, I was in Las Vegas at the Caesar's Palace Hotel & Casino, and it was a bit weird because I went from 40+ degrees (celsius) outside in the open air, to an air-conditioned temperature of around 18° in the casino – and then -5° inside the actual bar. It was a thermal shock, but also a bit of visual and emotional shock.

As the self-defining name suggests, ice bars are drinking establishments made almost entirely out of ice. Literally. Everything, from the decor to the furniture and of course the glasses, is made of ice. It is a cool concept, and the temperature is artificially maintained at a steady -5° celsius.

One of these ice bars was located in London, in Mayfair, which is where these videos and pictures were taken. I went there in the summer of 2018, to celebrate my birthday, and I had a blast.

Unfortunately, the Icebar in London was closed because of COVID-19 and a few days later, on 31 March, it announced its permanent closure. This made me a bit sad but I'm assuming it was becoming increasingly difficult for this location to make financial sense and I guess that perhaps the outbreak simply sped things up. Pity.