The Kiruna Festival of Snow is held each year in Kiruna, at the end of January. The most northerly settlement of Sweden, it’s a place rich with Sami culture. In the summer, Kiruna is where the midnight sun can be seen. But in January, it’s all about the Northern Lights, and embracing the chill. The heart of the festival is the snow-sculpture contest, and artists from around the world come to carve elaborate masterpieces. It’s Europe’s largest snow festival, and so visitors are very well looked after: ice-skating competitions, reindeer sled-racing, speed-skating, igloo parties, banquets, mini-snowmobile rides for children… Probably the most fun way to begin a new year.