Sapporo's winter event "2024 Sapporo Snow Festival" will be held! About 2 million visitors from all over Japan and abroad!

  • Hokkaido
  • Sightseeing
Large snow sculpture "Toyohirakan" at Odori Nishi 8-chome "Snow HTB Plaza" 🄫HTB image courtesy of "Sapporo Snow Festival Executive Committee
Hello everyone. This is the Hokkaido Communications Department. Today I would like to introduce you to Sapporo's major winter event, the 2024 Sapporo Snow Festival. Can you imagine how big the snow sculpture in this picture is? It is 10.6 meters high, 22 meters wide, and 19 meters deep! The historic "Sapporo Snow Festival," now in its 74th year, began in 1950 when local junior high and high school students displayed six snow sculptures in Odori Park. The festival is held at three venues in Sapporo: Odori, Tsudomu, and Susukino. Let's take a look at them now.

Running Hokkaido! Thoroughbreds" will convey a sense of dynamism!

🄫The Hokkaido Shimbun Press🄫The Hokkaido Shimbun Images courtesy of the "Sapporo Snow Festival Executive Committee
This "Running Hokkaido! Thoroughbreds" is a photo of a large snow sculpture unveiled at the "Doshin Snow Plaza" in the Odori venue, 5-chome, of the 70th Sapporo Snow Festival to be held in 2019. The two thoroughbreds are backed by the Sapporo Clock Tower, the statue of Dr. Clark at the Sapporo Hitsujigaoka Observation Hill, the main building of the Hokkaido Government (the Red Brick Building), and other famous landmarks in Sapporo. The snow sculpture is 12 meters high, 16 meters wide, and 13 meters deep. The snow used to create the snow sculpture was equivalent to 180 10-ton trucks, and about half of it was collected from the Sapporo Racecourse. I was also impressed by the attention to detail!

You can see snow sculptures made by citizens at "Shimin no Hiroba" in Odori 3-chome and 9-chome.

Snow sculptures in progress. Image courtesy of the Sapporo Snow Festival Executive Committee.
They look just like the real thing! Image courtesy of the Sapporo Snow Festival Executive Committee.
The "Citizens' Snow Sculpture" has been held since 1965 (the 16th). Whenever they call for participation in the "Citizens' Snow Sculpture," they receive many applications. The high quality of the participants' creations makes it a popular photo spot for visitors.

The "Tsudomu" site is a place where you can play as much as you like.

Tube sliders at the TSUDDOMU venue. Image courtesy of the Sapporo Snow Festival Executive Committee.
The Tsudomu venue is a place where visitors can enjoy hands-on snow attractions such as tube slides and snow crafts. This is the first time in four years that the event will be held at the Tsudomu venue. I am sure that many visitors have been looking forward to the event! To enjoy the interactive attractions, you must be prepared for the cold. Don't forget to bring a hat, scarf, and gloves. It is also a good idea to bring a body warmer. The temperature in Sapporo in February, when the Sapporo Snow Festival is held, is often below freezing throughout the day, and the lowest temperature is sometimes below -10℃, so it is colder than you might imagine. It is also recommended to wear adjustable clothing as the indoor temperatures in Hokkaido are "warm and fluffy" with heaters.

The neon-lit ice sculptures at the Susukino venue are fantastic.

Image courtesy of the Sapporo Snow Festival Committee.
Image courtesy of the Sapporo Snow Festival Committee.
The Susukino venue has a different atmosphere from the Odori venue, with ice sculptures taking center stage. There will be ice sculptures of various sizes, including the ever-popular ice sculpture with fish in it, as well as the ice sculpture competition, which is a gateway to success for ice sculpture artists. During the festival, the roadways will be closed at certain times to create a "pedestrian paradise" so that visitors can view the delicate ice sculptures up close and personal. Please check the official website of the "2024 Sapporo Snow Festival" for the "pedestrian paradise" hours. There are many more things we would like to introduce, but we hope you will visit the three venues of the "2024 Sapporo Snow Festival" and enjoy Sapporo in winter. We look forward to seeing you there. For more information on the 2024 Sapporo Snow Festival, please visit the official website of the 2024 Sapporo Snow Festival.
The official website for the 2024 Sapporo Snow Festival is here:
For train + accommodation reservations in the Sapporo area, please see [ JR East View Dynamic Rail Package ].

2024 Sapporo Snow Festival

2024 SAPPORO SNOW FESTIVAL】「Tsudomu Venue

2024 SAPPORO SNOW FESTIVAL】「Susukino venue

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