The Sapporo Snow Festival is back for 2023 and will be held from February 4 – February 11. This is a special year since it is commemorating the 100th anniversary of Sapporo’s incorporation as a city.
The Sapporo Snow Festival (さっぽろ雪まつり, Sapporo Yuki Matsuri) is held during one week every February in Hokkaido’s capital of Sapporo. The festival provides a great opportunity to immerse yourself in a fantasy world of glistening beauty and pure-white fun. It is one of Japan’s most popular winter events and has attractions suitable for the entire family.
The Sapporo Snow Festival was started in 1950, when high school students built a few snow statues in Odori Park. It has since developed into a large, commercialized event, featuring spectacular snow and ice sculptures and attracting more than two million visitors from Japan and across the world. The Snow Festival is staged at three sites: the Odori Site, Susukino Site, and Tsudome Site. Note that for 2023 the Tsudome Site will not be used.
Odori Site
The main site is the Odori Site in Sapporo’s centrally located 1.5km long Odori Park. The festival’s famous large snow sculptures, some measuring more than 25 meters wide and 15 meters high, are exhibited here. The exquisite state-of-art snow and ice sculptures of such scale are the biggest attraction of Sapporo Snow Festival. They are lit up daily until 22:00.
The sculptures are built with the help of bulldozers and mechanical diggers in the days before the festival begins. The snow is trucked in from various locations in Sapporo or, if it’s a relatively snow-free winter, from the surrounding hills. There are usually about half a dozen of these giant sculptures, which often depict characters from Japanese cartoons, or famous buildings from around the world.
Besides about a dozen large snow sculptures, the Odori Site exhibits more than one hundred smaller snow statues and hosts several concerts and events, many of which use the sculptures as their stage.
A great overhead view of the Odori Site can be enjoyed from the Sapporo TV Tower at the eastern end of Odori Park. The tower has extended hours (8:30 to 22:30) during the festival. Admission to the top observatory deck costs 1000 yen per adult. It is also possible to purchase a ticket for 1500 yen which allows a day visit and a night visit.
Susukino Site
The Susukino Site, located in Sapporo’s largest entertainment district of the same name, exhibits about one hundred ice sculptures. Susukino is located only one subway stop south of Odori Park. The ice sculptures are lit up daily until 23:00 (until 22:00 on the festival’s final day).
Under the theme of ‘Enjoy the Ice’, this site offers a fantastic ice sculpture show and the Ice Sculpture Contest. You can also visit the plaza, ‘Fureai Hiroba’ to touch or ride on the ice sculptures, take photos along the Illumination Street, or enjoy some hot drinks at the Ice Bar.
Susukino Site Events
Tsudome Site
The less centrally located Tsudome Site is a family-oriented site with three types of snow slides, snow rafting and more snow sculptures. The entire family can enjoy a number of activities at this site including snow golf, a snowball challenge, photo opportunities, and sledding.
Inside the dome, there is a kids park, many food stands and a stage for events. The Tsudome Site is open daily from 9:00 to 17:00. The Tsudome Site opens before the full start of the festival, on January 31, 2019.
How to get to the Sapporo Snow Festival
Take the Sapporo subway to Odori Station for the Odori Site, or get off at Susukino Station for the Susukino Site.
The Tsudomu Site is a 10 minute walk from Sakaemachi Station on the Toho Subway line. There will be plenty of signs and volunteers to help you get where you want to go.
