Sapporo Snow Festival 2024

Sapporo, Tsudome, Japan

Sapporo Snow Festival 2024: One of the largest winter events in the world.

Sapporo Snow Festival attracts a growing number of visitors from Japan and abroad every year. Every winter, about two million people come to Sapporo to see a large number of splendid snow and ice sculptures. Lining Odori Park, the grounds at Community Dome Tsudome, and along the main street in Susukino. During the festival in February, Sapporo is turned into a winter dreamland of crystal-like ice and white snow.

The Sapporo Snow Festival is a Japanese winter wonderland with its gigantic sculptures of ice castles and well-known personalities. Winter in Sapporo is all about fun with giant snow slides and snow rafting and seeing the most breathtaking sculptures made by the Sapporo community and international artists alike.

Sapporo Snow Festival has three locations, namely, in the Odori Park, Tsudeome and Susukino. As well as the giant snow and ice sculptures of famous places and people, there are also family-oriented activities, snow slides and snow rafting (Tsudome site).

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About Sapporo

Nestled in the mountains is the beautiful city of Sapporo, a city that never sleeps and always has something to offer to visitors from near and far. With close to 2 million people living in Sapporo, visitors can expect outdoor adventure experiences and city festivals and entertainment year-round.

Aside from skiing fresh powder in the latest Nordica Enforcer 93 twin tips, one of the most popular Winter events to attend in Sapporo is the Sapporo Snow Festival.

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Where to view Sapporo Snow Festival

For those who would like to join the week-long festival, you need to go to Sapporo in Northern Japan to the island of Hokkaido.

Entry is free but there are activities where you have to pay extra.

Where to go at Sapporo Snow Festival

The festival has three areas of entertainment and activities: 1. The Odori Site, 2. Tsudome Site, and 3. Susukino Site. All of which offer different types of entertainment to suit your interests. Whether you’re parched and looking for food and drink after a long day on the mountain, or looking to test out your sledding skills on the sliding hills, you won’t be disenchanted.

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Where to stay in Hokkaido

Hokkaido has many business hotels, apartments, hostels and capsules for those on a budget. Recommended hotels include the Sapporo Grand Hotel, which is the nearest to the Sapporo site and the Hotel Monterey Sapporo. Other hotels include Hotel Sonia.

How to get around Hokkaido

There are bullet trains all over Japan going to Hokkaido. You can also ride a ferry from Niigata and Oarai. You can book a flight from Tokyo to Sapporo for a faster route. There are shuttle buses connecting all three sites, so visitors would not have a hard time transferring from one location to the other.

Things to do in Sapporo

Sapporo has more than enough fun to keep you occupied but should you want to explore the area more, here are our top picks for things to do in Hokkaido.

– Explore Sapporo’s local eats especially their well-known ramen in the Sapporo Ramen Yokocho.
– Taste Sapporo’s local brew in the Sapporo Beer Museum and the famous Genhis Khan mutton barbecue.
– Attend the Shikotsu-Toya National Park Ice Festival also held around Januray or February.

For snow and outdoor enthusiasts, Winter is a short season that requires almost every free moment to be spent outside skiing or snowboarding in fresh powder, sledding, drinking “hot-toddies” in the cold, snow shoeing in -10 degrees, cross-country skiing and more. Japan’s snow festivals are world-renowned and not to be missed.

Love Sapporo but not the snow? In September Sapporo also hosts one of the largest food and beer festivals known as the “Sapporo Autumn Festival” spanning across the length of 4 football fields!

Sapporo Snow Festival 2024 Dates

This year marks the 71st year of the Festival and it won’t disappoint. The festival takes place on February 4-11, 2024.