Japan has a lot of festivals that have been going on for more than a decade. Every celebration of Japanese culture and history usually relates to their beliefs and mythology. Besides, it also has its music, costumes, and food.

One of the famous celebrations is the Sapporo Snow Festival. As the name implies, it is held in wintertime, usually from mid-January to late February. Take advantage of this event, especially for those who will go to Japan when it is near the festival.

The Sapporo Snow Festival is a popular event in winter that shows many sculptures and statues inspired by buildings, living things, and famous characters. The sculpture and statue are made from ice. Hence, it needs around 5 tons of ice to create them, which requires 500 trucks to deliver it to the locations.

Although this event runs for a week, it successfully attracts 2 million visitors annually. Going to be the busiest area in Japan during winter, hotels or other accommodations are fully booked quickly. Hence, you must reserve your room in the nearest hotel through the Traveloka App beforehand.

There, you will see many giant statues built by the Saporo City Snow Sculptures Group, while the medium-sized ones are from citizens. Therefore, the preparation takes four months before it is opened.

Usually, it is held at the beginning of February, and in 2024, it will be held on 4th-11th February. But if you go there before the event day, you can see some people build the statues.

The Sapporo Snow Festival is organised in Odori, Susukino, and Tsudome. You can take some available modes, such as taxi, bus, or train, to get there from Airport.

Luckily, it is close to the Sapporo Okadama Airport to Sapporo City. You need to spend 30 minutes by taxi or bus. However, if you are from New Chitose Airport, you will reach approximately 35 minutes by train from the city centre.

Here are the locations where the festival is held:

The Snow Festival is held in Odori Park, in the heart of Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan. This park has a wide area. It stretches east to west for 12 locks (around 1.5 kilometres), from 1-chome to 12-chrome. Therefore, it takes 30 minutes to go around. Due to the street being covered by ice, you have to be careful and wear proper shoes to prevent it from slipping. Here, you will find around 200 ice statues.

Still in Sapporo City, you can visit the Susukino Site. Those who love a night-walking activity can visit Susukino near Odori Park. You can go there walking, which only takes 20 minutes. Here, you can enjoy the beautiful view of living things or food sculptures, such as seafood. Meanwhile, they also use a real sea animal trapped inside.

Besides those places above, if you want to try some fun activities, you can go to Tsudome. Apart from Odori and Susukino, this dome is outside the city. You can go there by bus or train.

There are a lot of things you can do while visiting the Sapporo Snow Festival.

This is the main activity you can do at the festivals. The ice is sculpted as big as the buildings. You can see them at the Odori Park.

The sculptures are so massive that the size resembles the origin. Sometimes, they have ancient buildings or mythical creatures. They also create from popular anime or manga, such as Attack on Titan and Dragon Ball, to attract many visitors.

In contrast to Odori Park, the statues and sculptures at Susukino are pretty small. The creatures are different from Odori’s because they include living things, such as seafood, like crab or seahorse trapped inside the ice, to create the art.

For those who want to spend time with family or friends, you can try snow rafting on the Tsudome Site. This location is quite far from Odori and Susukino because it is outside the city. This area opens daily from 9:00 am to 05.00 pm.

Snow rafting can be used for anyone without an age minimum or maximum. The guardian officers will tow you while you are on the raft.

The best way to get there is by taking a bus because no parking area is available. If you are from Odori or Susukino, you can travel to Tsudome by shuttle bus. You can take the bus to a bus stop on the north side of Nishi 3-chrome.

Meanwhile, if you are from Sakaemachi Station, you can walk to Tsudome, which takes 15 minutes to walk.

Skiing is a favourite activity during the winter season, especially in ski resorts. One of the provided places is Fu’s Snow Area.

This activity can not be done by individual action. Regarding the requirements, you have to ask six people to book. If it is not fulfilled, you will get a notification email cancellation. Besides, you can not join this if you are pregnant or have epilepsy and cardiac disease.

This place provides some facilities, such as three cable cars and six ski tracks (2 of them are designed for beginners). For those who want to do the activities with family, there are also family slides and cat jumping slopes to give you the best experience.

Snow tubing is a way for family and friends who want to feel a slide sensation in the snow. The elevation is about 10 metres with 100 metres in length. At Tsudome, the Snow Tubing area has six lanes and is intended for 4-year-old kids and adults.
The nearest Japanese festival is the Sapporo Snow Festival, which will be held during winter. Book flights from Singapore to Sapporo, and closest hotels through the Traveloka App if you plan to visit that festival. You can also explore more promotions to save your budget.