By Christian Levaux and Jakob Van Calster
SINT-TRUIDEN (Reuters) – Families will be able to ice skate down the aisle in the Belgian city of Sint-Truiden this Christmas after it moved its rink inside its 18th-century baroque church.
Organisers usually set up the rink outside as part of their Christmas market. But they headed indoors this year to escape the weather, and make the most of the traditional setting.
In the run up to the big day, children skated across the soaring nave of Minderbroeders church and past a nativity scene, with Christmas music filling the air and images of a starry night projected on the ceiling.
“It’s more about Christmas. Christmas is about the church and Jesus,” 12-year-old Ella-June Briers said.
“It’s very ecological to use this ice rink because it’s CO2-neutral. We’re not using any water or electricity,” Philip Bronckaerts, chairman of the Sint-Truiden trade association that organised the market said.
“The church is not in use anymore for church services, but the community can enjoy it.”
The ice rink and the Christmas market are open until Jan. 7.
(Reporting Christian Levaux, Jakob Van Calster, Writing by Charlotte Van Campenhout, Editing by Andrew Heavens)
