See the Sapporo Snow Festival

What the experience is

The Sapporo Snow Festival is held for about a week in early February in the capital of Hokkaido, Japan’s northern island. It started in 1950 as a one-day event, when local high-school students built six snow statues in Odori Park. In 1955 the Self-Defense Forces stationed nearby joined in and made the first giant sculptures. The seventy-fifth edition took place from 4 to 11 February 2025, and the seventy-seventh is scheduled for 4 to 11 February 2027. Around two million people attend in a typical year.

The three sites

Odori Park, a strip of green that runs east to west through the centre of the city, is the main site. Its blocks hold the largest works: giant snow sculptures several storeys high, built from snow trucked in from outside the city and carved over weeks. Between them stand more than a hundred smaller statues made by groups of citizens, and the entries in an international snow-sculpture contest. The sculptures are lit after dark, and some of the large ones serve as stages for concerts and projections.

Susukino, the entertainment district a few minutes’ walk to the south, shows ice: about a hundred sculptures in clear blocks along the main street. Tsudome, a domed sports ground out of the centre, is the family site, with snow activities. Admission to all three sites is free.

When to go

The festival is held in the first half of February, and the 2027 dates, 4 to 11 February, have been announced by the organisers; the detailed programme is published progressively. Go in the first days, when the sculptures are sharpest. A thaw or fresh snowfall later in the week softens them. Evening, when the works are lit, is the better time for Odori; the ice at Susukino is good in daylight too.

Good to know

Hotels in Sapporo fill months ahead for the festival week and prices rise; book early. Daytime temperatures are below freezing. The paths in the park are packed snow and ice, and slip-on cleats for shoes, sold in the city’s convenience stores, are worth buying. Food stalls sell the cooking of Hokkaido: crab, grilled scallops, corn and ramen. Sapporo is about 40 minutes by train from New Chitose Airport.

Why OKYTO recommends it

It is among the largest winter festivals in Japan and a civic event more than a tourist one: the army, schools and neighbourhood groups all build. It also fits into a wider winter journey. The ski resort of Niseko is about two hours from Sapporo, with Park Hyatt Niseko Hanazono and the planned Aman Niseko. For the same season elsewhere in Asia, compare the ice festival at Harbin in north-east China.