Sapporo Snow Festival

The Sapporo Snow Festival began with a handful of snow statues built by students in Odori Park and grew into the largest winter event in Japan. Its main site runs the length of Odori Park through the centre of the city, from West 1 to West 11, where enormous sculptures of buildings, characters and scenes, some the size of a small building, are carved by teams from the Self-Defense Forces and from around the world, alongside hundreds of smaller works. Susukino, the entertainment district to the south, hosts the ice sculptures, and the Tsudome site on the edge of the city has snow slides and family activities.

The festival lasts eight days in early February, from 4 to 11 February 2027 for the 77th edition. The sculptures are at their sharpest on the opening days, before the sun and the crowds begin to soften their edges, and the whole of Odori is lit after dark until 22:00, when the projection shows on the big sculptures run and the cold, clear air makes the snow glow. A weekday evening on the first few days gives the best of both.

Odori is a short walk from Sapporo Station or a stop on the subway, and the site is entirely free to walk, though the food stalls, which are a highlight, are not. Hotels across the city are booked out months ahead and prices rise sharply; book as soon as your dates are fixed. Expect temperatures well below freezing, icy pavements that demand proper boots, and crowds that are dense but orderly. It is easily combined with the Otaru and Asahikawa festivals, which overlap it.