It’s a Winter Wonderland at the Sapporo Snow Festival

You’ll be astounded by the massive snow sculptures at Hokkaido’s signature event

Get ready to be blown away at the Sapporo Snow Festival, a celebration of snow—as art, architecture, and much more.

A total of 30,000 tons of snow is needed to build about 200 snow and ice sculptures for one of Japan’s largest winter events. The scale of these massive creations can be astounding—a 1972 statue of Gulliver even reached a height of 25 meters. It takes two weeks to one month to finish all the installations, and members of Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Forces, along with volunteers, build the biggest ones.

The festival begins in early February at three Sapporo locations: Odori Park, Tsudome, and Susukino. Evenings also feature musical projection mapping programs at various spots in Odori Park.

At the end of the park, check out sculptors from a range of countries battling it out in an international competition. With the theme changing each year, the Sapporo Snow Festival is well worth visiting multiple times.

Sapporo Snow Festival