Time started in 2002 | Type ice rink event | |
Location takes place in several towns and cities around Ireland | ||
7 Up Christmas on Ice is an annual ice rink event which takes place in several towns and cities around Ireland. It began in 2002, with more than 90,000 people attending the event in Smithfield, Dublin. It was the country's first ice rink to be outdoors. 7 Up took over as main sponsor in 2003; that year it was launched by Keith Duffy. It is one of Europe's largest outdoor ice rinks.
It features falling snow, a chocolate fountain, skating Santa Claus and disc jockeys. It has been championed by Gerry Ryan, The Late Late Show and TV3. Broadcaster and journalist Claire Byrne was "proud to report that I didn't fall" and "that I had finally found Christmas" after visiting the ice rink at the RDS in Dublin in 2009. It is possible to book tickets online or at the venue. Each session lasts for one hour.
The Galway event is known as "Galway Bay on Ice". The 2009 event took place until 10 January 2010 and featured a 700-square-mile (1,800 km2) ice rink as well as a Christmas market.
The event came to Letterkenny, County Donegal for the first time in 2008 and returned in 2009. There is also an Ice Café there. In 2008, the entire event took place across three locations: Letterkenny, the RDS in Dublin and the Liffey Valley Shopping Centre, also in Clondalkin.
In 2008, four "celebrities" — Shane Byrne, Patricia McKenna, Lisa Murphy and Brian Ormond — took part for charity in a 7 Up Christmas on Ice "Celebs on Ice" Special which was broadcast live on The Late Late Show on RTÉ One during the last episode before Christmas. €75,000 was raised for their charities.
The 2009 event was launched by Jayne Torvill on 13 November that year.