Sapporo Snow Festival

The Sapporo Snow Festival (さっぽろ雪まつり) is Sapporo's biggest winter event, held every February in the city centre. According to the organiser, the Sapporo Snow Festival Executive Committee, it began in 1950, when local junior and senior high school students put six snow sculptures in Odori Park, on what was then a snow dumping ground; about 50,000 people came. The Japan Self-Defense Forces first joined the sculpture building in 1955, the Sapporo Winter Olympics in 1972 brought international attention, and the International Snow Sculpture Contest began in 1974. The Susukino site, with its ice sculptures, was added in 1983, and Tsudome became the second site in 2009. The organiser says the festival now draws more than two million visitors from Japan and abroad.

The large sculptures are built by the Self-Defense Forces' festival support unit and a large-sculpture committee, with volunteers and citizens' groups making many of the others. Snow is trucked in from 7 January, and the sculptures take about a month to pile, carve and finish.

This edition

The 77th festival runs for eight days, from Thursday 4 to Thursday 11 February 2027 (a public holiday). All three sites, Odori, Susukino and Tsudome, share the same dates. Odori Park will have five large snow sculptures, medium and small sculptures, winter attractions, the International Snow Sculpture Contest at 11-chōme and the Sapporo International Art Festival 2027 at 2-chōme. A linked event, Sapporo Snow Sports Park 2027, follows at the Daiwa House Premist Dome from 12 to 14 February 2027. The organiser will publish the 2027 programme for each site from mid-December 2026.

• Large snow sculptures at Odori Park: five large sculptures at 4, 5, 7, 8 and 10-chōme, along a site of about 1.1 km from 1 to 11-chōme, lit up until 22:00.
• International Snow Sculpture Contest: teams from around the world carve at 11-chōme. The 2026 contest, the 50th, had 10 teams, including Finland, Poland, Austria and Thailand.
• Citizens' snow sculptures: about 80 sculptures by local groups at 2 and 9-chōme in 2026, often humorous or topical, with a popularity vote.
• Susukino ice sculptures: about 60 ice sculptures in 2026 along the main street between Minami 4-jō and Minami 6-jō, including fish frozen into ice and an ice-carving contest, lit until 23:00.
• Tsudome for families: tube sliders, snow rafting and other snow play, with indoor attractions and food stalls, open 10:00–16:00.

• Odori: you are on the main site, and Odori subway station serves the Namboku, Tōzai and Tōhō lines.
• Susukino: the ice sculptures line the main street and are lit until 23:00, and Susukino station is on the Namboku line, which also stops at Odori.
• Sapporo Station area: JR Rapid Airport trains run from here to New Chitose Airport in about 37 minutes, and the Tōhō line goes direct to Sakaemachi for Tsudome.

Fly into New Chitose Airport (CTS), Sapporo's main airport. There are no direct flights from the UK: none of the airlines listed at New Chitose flies to the UK or Europe. You can connect in Tokyo and take a domestic flight from Haneda (HND) or Narita (NRT), or change at an Asian hub with flights to New Chitose, such as Seoul, Hong Kong or Taipei.

Airport to the city: Sapporo's official tourism site says the JR Rapid Airport train takes about 37 minutes to Sapporo Station. It runs about every 12 minutes from just after 08:00 to just after 22:00, and local trains run earlier. Airport buses (Chuo Bus and Hokuto Kotsu) take about 70 minutes to central Sapporo and leave every 10 to 15 minutes. A taxi takes about 60 minutes and costs about ¥10,000–13,000 depending on traffic, plus expressway tolls. JR New Chitose Airport Station is on floor B1 of the terminal. See JR Hokkaido for timetables and fares.

Getting to the sites: for Odori, take the Namboku, Tōzai or Tōhō subway line to Odori. For Susukino, take the Namboku line to Susukino. For Tsudome, take the Tōhō line to Sakaemachi, then the shuttle bus or walk about 15 minutes. Tsudome has no public car park and no drop-off area, so use public transport. The organiser says the airport is about 1 hour 10 minutes by bus from Odori Park, or about 1 hour by JR from Sapporo Station.

We don't have a Sapporo guide yet; see our Hokkaido guide and Japan guide.

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The organiser says all sites are free to enter. Odori Park is a public park, so you can walk round the sculptures at any time during the festival. The Susukino sculptures stand along the main street and are also open at all times. Tsudome is open 10:00–16:00. Some attractions charge a fee: at Tsudome in 2026, snow rafting cost ¥1,200 for adults and ¥600 for primary-school children and younger. On weekends and public holidays, numbered tickets were handed out for the tube slider. The organiser will publish 2027 attraction details from mid-December 2026.

Timing: Odori is lit until 22:00. Susukino is lit until 23:00, or 22:00 on the last day. In 2026 Susukino's main street was closed to traffic from 15:00 to 23:00 on weekdays and from 10:00 at weekends, so you could see the ice sculptures up close; move back to the pavement when the closure ends. Tsudome attractions may stop taking people early when it is busy.

Cold: the organiser says late January to early February is the coldest time of year in Sapporo. The Japan Meteorological Agency's 1991–2020 averages for February in Sapporo are a daily high of 0.4°C and a low of −6.2°C. You will be walking outside for a long time, so wear layers under a proper winter coat (a thin coat won't be warm enough), with a hat, ear muffs and gloves. Hats and gloves are required for the Tsudome attractions.

Icy pavements: pavements are often frozen, so wear winter shoes with grooved soles, or buy slip-on grips (about ¥1,000) at the official shops, convenience stores or station kiosks. Walk on the sand spread on the ice, take care on pedestrian crossings, and watch for the step where heated pavement ends. The official shops at Odori lend walking poles for free.

Luggage: Sapporo city sets up temporary luggage storage for visitors during the festival.

Local food: Sapporo's official tourism site says miso is the classic Sapporo ramen and that it is particularly good in winter, when Hokkaido crab is also in season. Tsudome's indoor hall has food stalls selling warm Hokkaido and Sapporo dishes.

The organiser hasn't published a full accessibility guide. At Odori, volunteers from the NPO Te to Te help visitors who need assistance; you can arrange support through Te to Te. The welfare volunteer house at Odori 6-chōme lends snow wheelchairs, but numbers are limited, they are for people who find it hard to walk on snow, and you can reserve one. Walking poles are lent free at the official shops and the welfare volunteer house. Tsudome has seven disabled parking spaces, and you need to show an original physical disability certificate (other disability certificates aren't accepted). Assistance dogs are allowed at Tsudome; pets aren't. Sapporo's tourism site lists barrier-free hotels. For anything else, use the organiser's contact list.

Falls on ice are the main risk: follow the organiser's advice on walking on frozen pavements, and wear a hat and gloves, which make injuries less likely if you do fall. Drones and balloons aren't allowed at Tsudome, and smoking isn't allowed anywhere on the Tsudome site. At Tsudome, report lost children to the lost-child centre and lost property to the indoor information desk.

• Before you go, read the UK government's FCDO travel advice for Japan (entry requirements, safety and local laws).
• Flight delayed or cancelled on the way? See our Travel Disruption guide for your rights and live alerts.