This year Epiphany in Irkutsk was especially crowded. The holiday fell on a day off, and warm weather drew even elderly people and children to the ice baths. Due to thin ice on the Angara, the rite was not held in the usual places, so everyone went to Yakobi Bay, where the ice was safe, and the baths were blessed by Archbishop Vadim of Irkutsk and Angarsk.

The Feast of the Baptism of Christ fell on a weekend this year, and the weather for this time of year was quite warm, so even elderly people and children immersed themselves in the ice holes. In addition, because of the abnormally warm weather, in some places along the Angara River from Baikal to the Irkutsk reservoir, where ice holes are traditionally set up, the rite was not held this year – the ice thickness turned out to be less than 20 centimeters, and going out onto the ice became dangerous. Therefore, Irkutsk residents went to Yakobi Bay, where the ice thickness was safe – about 50 centimeters. Another reason for the “full house” at Yakobi was that the ice holes here were consecrated by the Archbishop of Irkutsk and Angarsk, His Eminence Vadim.