21 February 2023 – Brothers’ Antonio and Ross Baisas won first place in this year’s recently concluded Winterlude National Ice-Carving Championship.

Thirteen teams of two carvers each took part in the 45th edition of Winterlude, representing each Canadian province and territory. They had been given 20 hours to sculpt 15 blocks of ice and create a work of art inspired by the theme “Creatures of the Sea,” a nod to the underwater life of Canada’s oceans.

Representing Nova Scotia, the Baisas brothers presented their winning masterpiece, “Dinner Dance,” which is an ice sculpture of an octopus having a snack.

Hailing from the town of Paete, Laguna, the Baisas brothers migrated to Canada more than twenty years ago. Since then, both have become well known in the country and abroad as an award-winning ice-carving tandem. Their recent accomplishments include winning first prize at the Ice on Whyte Festival in Edmonton, Alberta in 2018, garnering first place in the First International Snow Sculpting Competition in Banff, Alberta in 2019, and placing third in the Ice on Whyte Festival in Edmonton, Alberta, as well as winning the Artist Choice Award in the same year. In 2020, the duo placed second in the 42nd Winterlude Ice-Carving Competition in Ottawa, and earned the top spot in the 2021 ice-carving competition. END