FAMILIES, photographers and selfie snappers were on the trail of popular literary characters as part of a growing ice festival.

Durham city centre has been busy for the first day of Fire&Ice, a festival featuring flaming torches, frozen sculptures and a chance to watch internationally-acclaimed artists at work.

Gandalf from The Lord of the Rings, the Night King from Games of Thrones and Charles Dickens’ Nicolas Nickleby are among the characters carved in ice.

The event, which continues tomorrow (Saturday), is organised by Durham’s Business Improvement District (BID).

Engagement manager Adam Deathe said: “The number of people walking around from 8.30am with their cameras has been incredible. There’s clearly a huge upswell in families coming in and we’ve had to go out and print more maps.

“People are clearly very excited by some of the sculptures and as people are getting familiar with the concept they’re able to appreciate the artistry. Children are looking around and seeing their favourite characters from literature.

“This is the third year and I think we can say this is what Durham does well, we can put on a show. We’ve got another event that puts Durham on the map.”

Jessica Smalley, from Coxhoe, who was there with Oscar, 6, and Ted, 3, said: “We came in a bit late last year and everything was melting so we came earlier this year to get the best of it.

“It’s really good. It’s great to see everyone out. It’s great for the city.”

Kathyn Findley, from Stanley, said: “It’s amazing. We’ve been very impressed. There’s some really good work gone into it. It’s been so busy, it’s good for Durham.”

Her daughter Felicity, 6, added: “It’s amazing. My favourite is the Gruffalo because it’s massive.”

John Holliday, from Bishop Auckland, was also there with his children Abigail and James. He said: “It’s the first time we’ve been. It’s really good.

“It gets people in as well which is good, it’s good for the city.”

Among the sculptures on Friday was a phoenix, inspired by the Harry Potter books, which was designed by young artist Elle McKinnel, a pupil at Parkside Academy, in Willington.

She was one of two winners of a competition organised among schools.

The other winner was Helena Fleming, a pupil at St Leonard’s School in Durham, whose Japanese-inspired design of a cartoon comic character, part angel and part demon, will be on display today.

The sculptures have been made by a team from Glacial Arts, which has created work for the Game of Thrones TV show and has represented the UK in the European Ice Sculpting Championships.