The Carrington Hotel is installing a 20-metre ice rink in the picturesque town square which has the potential to become Katoomba’s biggest winter attraction in decades.

With a bit of floating mist under lights and the iconic 125-year-old hotel in the background, people at the Carrington Place rink will feel they’re in the heart of Vienna or Budapest.

It all starts at 7.30pm on Saturday, June 27 with a free show by Faulconbridge residents and professional skaters Linda and Pavel Aubrecht.

The couple met while performing around the world in one of the most prestigious skating shows, Holiday on Ice.

They’ve represented their countries as competitive skaters (Pavel, Czech Republic and Linda, Australia) and have since skated in Channel Nine’s Skating on Thin Ice program and Torvill and Dean’s Dancing on Ice.

“We thought we’d take the opportunity to put on an ice show here in Katoomba that we’ve been working on in the style of jazz, cabaret and swing,” Pavel said.

The Swing With Me show will also feature Sydney Ice Theatre (coached by Linda at Penrith ice rink) which became the first Australian team to compete internationally in the discipline, finishing second in Nice, France.

Australian representative at the 2009 World Figure Skating Championships, Mark Webster, and Penrith-based Australian representative at Four Continents and other international competitions, Nicholas Fernandez, complete the talented cast list.

The ice rink will be open every day between 10am and 8pm until the end of August.

Linda and Pavel will be running private lessons and skate school sessions (Wednesday afternoons and Saturday mornings) for the duration of the season.

“The rink will bring to the Mountains a great European tradition,” Pavel said.

“I’m from the Czech Republic and in that part of Europe you see an outdoor ice rink in every major city.

“Katoomba will have that essence.”

To book a place in the skate school or a private lesson, phone Pavel on 0415-734-872.