Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival

The China Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival is a winter festival held in Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province in north-east China. It is hosted by the Heilongjiang Provincial People's Government. The 41st and 42nd editions both opened on 5 January (2025 and 2026), with the opening held at Harbin Ice-Snow World on the north bank of the Songhua River. The 2026 edition, themed “冰天雪地 共创未来” (roughly, “a land of ice and snow, building the future together”), listed more than 200 ice and snow cultural, sporting and trade events.

Its best-known venue is Harbin Ice-Snow World, a park of buildings, towers and slides made from ice and snow that opens before the festival itself. The 2025–26 season, the park's 27th, opened on 17 December 2025, ran for 65 days and drew 3.06 million visits, according to Heilongjiang's culture and tourism department. Other parts of the festival include the Sun Island International Snow Sculpture Art Expo, which describes itself as an important part of the festival, and the Songhua River Ice and Snow Carnival along the river.

This season

On 12 October 2026 the park operator announced that the 28th Harbin Ice-Snow World will grow to 1.25 million square metres, its largest yet, using about 400,000 cubic metres of ice and snow, and will open in the 2026–27 ice and snow season. No opening date for the park, and no date for the 43rd festival, had been published when this page was checked.

Fly into Harbin Taiping International Airport (HRB), about 39 km and roughly 50 minutes by road from Harbin Ice-Snow World. There is no metro to the airport yet; Harbin Metro has said an airport line is still at the planning stage. Use the airport buses, including Airport Bus Line 4, which serves the park, or a taxi.

From the city, Metro Line 2 runs direct to Ice-Snow World station from Harbin Railway Station, Central Street and Harbin North Station. From Harbin East, take Line 1 to Museum and change to Line 2; from Harbin West, take Line 3 to Zhujiang Road and change to Line 2. The park lists metro trains from 06:00 to about 21:30 “for reference only”, so check the last train before an evening visit. Many city buses also stop at the park, and it has a large car park with separate taxi and ride-hailing areas.

Harbin is on China's high-speed rail network; book trains through China Railway's 12306 service. See our China guide for more on travelling in the country.

Flight delayed or cancelled on the way? See our Travel Disruption guide for your rights.