This week the 71st Sapporo snow festival started and it is one of the highlights in Hokkaido! People come from far and close to this popular annual event. The festival probably is most famous for its snow and ice sculptures lets you enter a winter wonderland right in the Center of Sapporo. Where every February Odori park is transformed into a village even Elsa would feel at home.
The Sapporo snow festival basics
Sapporo snow festival or in Japanese Yuki matsuri happens every year at the beginning of February, though dates vary slightly. It lasts for about 10 days and attracts almost 3 Million People every year. It is located over 3 sites; Odori Park, Susukino and a little further out: Tsudome. With each site having its own activities, highlights, and schedules.
It’s the high high high season and probably the most expensive time to visit Sapporo. But if you plan ahead it can totally be done. Best to get your hotel and flight before October, that way you will get competitive prices and also still have a choice. I do recommend staying as close to where it happens, as with the temperamental winter weather you may not want to journey too far…
The Festival sites
Every year the sites are the same, which makes it a bit easier to plan your visit I think. Especially as many Hotel sites, such as booking.com, let you book without paying and usually lets you cancel for free up to 1 week before your scheduled date. My tip here, if you think about coming, book that Hotel and set yourself a reminder when you need to cancel. In case you do change your mind…
But let’s look at the Sapporo snow festival sites in a bit more detail to give you an idea of what to expect.
Odori park
This is the main show. Pretty much everything is happening here. The food, the massive sculptures, the performances, and the evening light show.
It stretches from the Sapporo TV Tower until the end of Odori Park, which is about 1.5 km and is broken up into different sections. The way it is divided changes a bit every year. Where last year all the food was bunched together in one main area, this year every section has its own little food Island. Which makes it nice to walking along the festival and having a little treat here and there.
Its both fun during the day and night, just keep in mind the lights will go out early enough, with the Illuminations being turned off at 10 pm.
For more details on what to find where at the Odori Site, have a look here.
Susukino
Susukino is where the carved ice sculptures are being displayed and you can pretty much see this and take a few photos in less than an hour. It’s one of the smaller sites of the festival, there are no food stalls, just the sculptures, and a few interactive exhibits.
This is also beautiful both day and night and with 11 pm the lights stay on a bit longer over here. I do recommend checking this out, as some of these sculptures are insane. Have a look here to see what it is like.
Tsudome
If you are looking for some fun snow activities Tsudome is the one for you to check and great for kids too. You will find snow tubes slides, a snow park, Snow Park Golf, and you can even go to an Ice Glass Making Experience. They also have a big indoor activities area, with pretty much all the fun stuff you can imagine and more. Here are some more details about it.
It closes at 5 pm and they will also stop letting people in if it gets too crowded. So better go early. There is a shuttle bus connecting Odori with Tsudome. The 1-way fare for Adults is 300yen and for Kids 150yen.
My recommendations
Is it worth visiting the Sapporo snow festival? Hell yes!
If you get the chance, definitely come visit and the best part? Hokkaido has so much more to offer. Great food, nature and the people up here are just lovely.
My tip, most people are coming to the Sapporo snow festival at the end of it. But if you ask me, the start of the festival is so much more fun! And there are 3 good reasons why.
- It’s cheaper
- You can see the building part, it’s amazing to see them carve the sculptures
- You get to see them brand new and in all their glory
The last one is particularly useful, as with this time of the year being quite snowy, many of the smaller sculptures are less and less recognizable as the festival continues and the bigger ones also lose some of their edges.
So here you are, I hope you get to see this amazing winter festival in Hokkaido for yourself. Follow Obsessed with Japan on Instagram for some sneak peeks of this year’s Winter wonderland here in Sapporo!
Booking.com
