Sapporo Snow Festival Tours

For one week in February in Hokkaido’s capital, Sapporo, a winter event is held called Sapporo Snow Festival also known as Sapporo Yuki Matsuri.

In 1950, some local high school students built 6 snow statues in Odori Park and attracted about fifty thousand people to the first Sapporo Snow Festival. Then in 1955, the Self Defense Force from the Makomanai base, joined in to make the first humongous snow sculptures. Also if the snow fall is not heavy in Sapporo, the Self Defense Force would transport snow from outside the city. Their participation in the festival still continues today and is considered a training exercise for them. By 1959, 2,500 people participated in making snow sculptures. It was also the year the media first reported about the festival nationwide. The Makomanai base became the official second area for the Snow Festival in 1965 and hosted the largest sculptures during the festivities. Then in 1972 the Winter Olympics held in Sapporo gave the opportunity to the media to report about the festival on an international scale. This gave rise to the International Snow Statue Competition, which started in 1974, and has teams competing from different countries especially from Sapporo sister cities (Portland, Munich, Shenyan, Novosibirisk and Daejeon). A new aspect of the festival was added in 1983 at Susukino where there are ice sculptures illuminated by neon lights on the street. The new attraction made Susukino the third official site of the Sapporo Snow Festival. The following year in 1984 the length of the festival was extended from two days to being a week-long celebration. In 2005 the Makomanai site was closed off and Satoland was made the temporary second site. It was not until 2009 when the Tsudome became the official second site.

Odori Park is the main site of the Sapporo Snow Festival. Here you can enjoy snow and ice sculptures of various sizes. Some are based on famous characters like Doraemon, Mickey Mouse, Star Wars, etc. It is also there area where concerts and different events happen. Then the Susukino Site, located in the entertainment district, exhibits numerous different ice sculptures where you experience touching the figures or even sit on them. The neon street lights of the area illuminate the sculptures to further enhance the fantasy. The Tsudome features a more family friendly environment. There you can go snow rafting, ice sledding, snowboarding, skiing, etc. Each of the sites has places to eat, but it is recommended to try the seafood, which Hokkaido is famous for.

Please see below for tours that include Sapporo Snow Festival: