Freeze London

With Winter now very definitely here there is nothing else to do but to pack away all those shorts and floaty dresses, bundle up in a big old coat and starting fully embracing the change in seasons with some wintry activities.  Whilst you may not be fully up for dry slope skiing or snowboarding or the ridiculous sport of winter swimming in London’s many lidos, London Freeze may yet appeal, mainly because you can watch other people doing it and stay warm and dry.

The event takes place at the revamped Battersea Power Station from Friday 30th October to Sunday 1st November and is a festival of snow sports and music that will feature a range of events including the London leg of the LG Snowboard FIS World Cup, International Freestyle Ski Comp, alpine themed bars and 2 live music stages including the Main Stage Tent and the Relentless Energy Pyramid Stage (which frankly sounds a little scary but its in Battersea so how bad can it be…).

Surprisingly, the music lineup for the festival is really rather good.  I say surprisingly because often when the music is really just ancillary to the main focus of the event (in this case the snow sports) you often get a rather half hearted lineup of bands the organizers thought might fit with the theme but mostly importantly would fit within the budget which had mostly been spent on the snowsports side of things.  There’s drum n bass legends Chase and Status, trendy indie types Ou Est Le Swimming Pool and Friendly Fires and electro kid Kissy Sell Out as well as headliners Orbital and American rock band Eagles of Death Metal.

On the snow sports side of things the power station will be transformed into an alpine resort, apparently using real snow which is made by blasting water through liquid nitrogen.  The newly created slopes will then be used for various snowboard and ski competitions where fans can watch the international superstars of the sport compete for pretty substantial prize funds (www.londonfreeze.com).

Battersea Power Station
188 Kirtling St
London, SW8
020 7627 5821