The Sapporo Snow Festival is one of the most popular annual events in all of Japan. It is held annually in February and attracts over 2 million people every year. The venue is in Sapporo, the prefectural capital of Hokkaido, which is the northernmost prefecture that receives excessive amounts of snowfall during the winter season.
The popular festival started in 1950 when high school students built a few snow statues. Since then, it has grown into an annual, one-week-long festival, which attracts visitors from all over the world.
The Snow Festival usually takes place at not one but three different locations in and around Sapporo. Mainly, the Snow Festival in Sapporo takes place at the Odori Park and on the Susukino Street for 2023.
The Odori Site, Sapporo’s Odori Park, is the historic home of the Snow Festival. The one and a half kilometer park remains the primary venue. It is the staging ground for the Festival’s largest statues, some of which span 25 meters and rise 15 meters in the air.
In addition to a dozen or more large sculptures, the park is littered with hundreds of smaller snow statues. The statues are illuminated until 10 pm each day. Several concerts and events are held in Odori Park during the week of the Festival. Food and souvenir stalls are located streetside, and an ice skating rink can be found in front of Sapporo Tower.
The Susukino Site is located in the city’s entertainment district. About one hundred ice sculptures are exhibited and illuminated until 11 pm daily.
Tsubame (but it is not available in 2023), or the Tsu Dome Site (Community Site), is a family-friendly playground. Inside the dome, you’ll find food stands and an event stage. Outside are three unique snow slides, a snow rafting slope, a snow maze, snowman building area, and additional snow sculptures.
The Tsu Dome Site typically opens a few days prior to the official start of the Festival, and is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm.
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