The Sapporo Snow Festival
Will Melt Any Icy Heart.

Japanese festivals are great and the Sapporo Snow Festival (Yuki Matsuri), Hokkaido`s most famous festival, is no exception.

If you read my page about Sapporo, you would have noticed that I don`t think it is the most exciting of places. But in a certain week of the year all that changes.

Then you`ll find, it`s all kinds of awesome.

Also known as the Sapporo Ice Festival, it is held over 7 days in early February. "Starting" in 1950 when six snow statues were built by some creative high school students in Odori Park, it has transformed into a showcase for giant snow sculptures and an outpouring of snow love in general.

These days, one to two million people from all over the world come to see the often huge and richly detailed sculptures.

The festival is held in three locations:

- Odori Park

- The main street of Susukino

- The grounds of the Community Dome Tsudomu.

The Sapporo Ice Festival is Cold!

Long Johns, AKA: Thermal Nuclear Underwear are a good idea and remember your gloves.

Also the ground can get extremely slippery. If you are from a hot country like me, it`s next to impossible to find shoes that are made specifically for icy conditions.

So, you might want to buy a pair in Japan just to be extra cautious. I`ll leave that one up to you though. (By the way shoe sizes in Japan are in centimeters, for example, 25cm, 25.5cm, 26cm etc). Shoe store chains like "ABC Mart" (they have a number of stores in Sapporo) tend to have a great range and are fairly reasonable prices.

As always watch your step, you`ll thank me later.

Due to the popularity of the festival it really is a good idea to arrange accomodation in advance.

If you have kids, the festival is wonderful to visit as a family.

I`ve never met a child that didn`t absolutely love snow. And besides the inevitable snowball throwing, there are also giant snow slides, mazes made of ice (no minotaurs) and of course, the amazing sculptures themselves.

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