Sapporo Snow Festival

Sapporo Snow Festival
Central Sapporo, 2007
Genre	snow festival
Dates	February
Location(s)	Sapporo, Japan
Years active	since 1950
Website
www.snowfes.com/english

The Sapporo Snow Festival (さっぽろ雪まつり, Sapporo Yuki-matsuri^?) is a festival held annually in Sapporo, Japan, over seven days in February. Odori Park, Susukino, and Tsudome are the main sites of the festival. The 2017 Snow Festival dates are 6 to 12 February at the Odori and Suskino sites and 1 to 12 February at the Tsudome site.

This is one of the largest and most distinctive winter events. In 2007 (58th Festival), about two million people visited Sapporo to see the hundreds of snow statues and ice sculptures at the Odori Park and Susukino sites, in central Sapporo, and at the Satoland site. An International Snow Sculpture Contest has been held at the Odori Park site since 1974, and 14 teams from various regions of the world participated in 2008.

The subject of the statues varies and often features an event, famous building or person from the previous year. For example, in 2004, there were statues of Hideki Matsui, the famous baseball player who at that time played for the New York Yankees. A number of stages made out of snow are also constructed and some events including musical performances are held. At the Satoland site, visitors can enjoy long snow and ice slides as well as a huge maze made of snow. Visitors can also enjoy a variety of regional foods from all over Hokkaidō at the Odori Park and Satoland sites, such as fresh seafood, potatoes and corn, and fresh dairy products.

Every year the number of statues displayed is around 400 in total. In 2007, there were 307 statues created at the Odori Park site, 32 at the Satoland site and 100 at the Susukino site. A good view of the creations can be had from the TV Tower at the Odori Park site.

The Snow Festival began in 1950, when six local high school students built six snow statues in Odori Park. In 1955, the Japan Self-Defense Forces from the nearby Makomanai base joined in and built the first massive snow sculptures, for which the Snow Festival has now become famous. Several snow festivals existed in Sapporo prior to the Sapporo Snow Festival, however, all of these were suspended during World War II.