The Sapporo Snow Festival (さっぽろ雪まつり) is an event that takes place every year in February for one week in Sapporo (札幌市), the capital of Hokkaido, North Japan. It is funny to think that what started out in 1950 as the display of a few snow sculptures created by local students has become the largest winter event in Japan, attracting over two million visitors per year.

2023 was a special edition as it was the first time in three years that the festival was held and this 73rd edition commemorated the 100th anniversary of Sapporo's incorporation as a city. In 2023, the festival took place from Sat, Feb 4 - Sat, Feb 11.

Here are some of my favorite pictures I took during my trip to Sapporo in February to see the Sapporo Snow Festival.

Odori Park Venue

At the Odori Park venue, which stretches on 1.5 km, you can see snow sculptures of various sizes made by artists, students and citizens. At night, the atmosphere was quite different as the sculptures were illuminated until 10 p.m. with some light shows on the biggest of them.

Susukino Venue

The Susukino Venue hosts an ice sculpture contest, with the theme "Finding Delight in Ice" in 2023. I find the details of the sculptures absolutely stunning!

Around Sapporo

On top of the official venues of the Sapporo Snow Festival, I find the city of Sapporo charming during this period. You can spend time exploring the city center and see Sapporo attractions such as the Sapporo Clock Tower and enjoy the illuminations at night.

During the day, the parks are also a great place to enjoy the winter atmosphere of Sapporo, as people often take advantage of the amount of snow present to make snow fights, snowmen and other sculptures. In Maruyama Park, there were several trees, as you can see in the pictures below, used as supports to make small and adorable snow sculptures. I had never imagined that trees could be used for this and I thought it was brilliant.

To Conclude

I have been to Sapporo twice during the snow festival in 2018 and 2023. It is absolutely stunning, especially for people who are not used to seeing snow often or who particularly enjoy the magic of winter. I hope this small selection of photos will make you consider adding the Sapporo Snow Matsuri to your Japan travel bucket list.

If you do, please feel free to read my recent article “Sapporo Guide and Five-Day Itinerary During the Snow Festival” to prepare for your trip.

Last picture, me, participating in the snow festival by making my own sculpture (I hope Ghibli fans can recognize my masterpiece haha) at Nakajima Park.

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