In Irkutsk, preparations for the Epiphany celebration on the ice of Yakobi Bay are nearing completion, the ice has already been thickened to 70 centimeters, and all work has been underway since January 2. On January 19 there will be a procession, water blessing by Metropolitan Vadim, water collection and bathing, and about a hundred guards, rescuers, medics and traffic police crews will ensure safety and order.

A meeting of agencies ensuring the scheduled holding of the traditional Epiphany celebration, which will take place on January 19 on the ice of Yakobi Bay, was held in the committee for the administration of the Sverdlovsk District of Irkutsk. Work on clearing and thickening the ice has been underway since January 2; as of today, the ice thickness in the area of the Yakobi beach shoreline is about 70 centimeters.
The water-blessing ceremony in the ice hole will be conducted by Metropolitan Vadim of Irkutsk and Angarsk, who will arrive at the Church of the Holy Blessed Prince Alexander Nevsky after the liturgy at the Cathedral of the Epiphany. After his arrival, the traditional religious procession from the church to the Jordan will take place, along with the blessing of the ice holes; then the drawing of water and bathing will begin.
The approximate start of the religious procession is 11 a.m. There will be 4 food service points operating on the shoreline. Employees working in the ice town will be rotated every hour. All services involved in the event will be on duty on the shore of Yakobi Bay on January 19 from 9 a.m. to midnight.
The safety of city residents on this day will be ensured by about 100 employees of private security companies in two shifts, 60 servicemen of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, about a dozen employees of the State Inspectorate for Small Vessels and the Irkutsk Emergency Rescue Service, and a team of doctors from the territorial center of Disaster Medicine. Patroling the surrounding area will be carried out by 14 traffic police crews, as well as employees of the Irkutsk Emergency Rescue Service on a snowmobile and an all-terrain vehicle.
Based on materials from the press service of the Irkutsk administration.