Festive: The ice sculptures showing the nativity scene were unveiled to mark the beginning of the advent season in Graz, Austria Attraction: Residents and tourists crowd around to see the hand-carved nativity sculptures in Graz, Austria. Around 700,000 people are expected to visit the sculptures before they are taken down on January 7 Nativity: The Virgin Mary can be seen holding the baby Jesus, with Joseph standing watch, in the intricately carved sculptures painstakingly carved out of tons of clear ice They claim this year's is the biggest in the world. The nativity scene will be on display until January 7 and is expected to be seen by as many as 700,000 people from Austria and abroad. Ice sculptor Gert. J. Hoedl said the installation has been 'really really successful' over the past 16 years. 'All the weekends are full in Graz, so I'm very proud to head the idea for 16 years,' he said. Some 180 small blocks of clear ice and seven large blocks were used for the project. Each small block weighed 120kg each.