Sapporo Snow Festival – Discover the “World of Ice and Snow” in Hokkaido, Japan

The Sapporo Snow Festival is held at three separate locations, each with different events, activities and exhibitions, promising to bring visitors on a Japan tour a completely different experience in winter and the romantic yet exciting snow of Hokkaido, Japan .

1. Origin of Sapporo Snow Festival

Sapporo Snow Festival, the most anticipated winter event in Japan (Photo source: Collected)

The Sapporo Snow Festival (Sapporo Yuki Matsuri) is held for a week in February every year in Hokkaido's capital city of Sapporo. The first snow festival was held in 1950. At that time, high school students built six snow statues in Ōdōri Park, and unexpectedly these works attracted fifty thousand visitors.

By 1955, the Self-Defense Forces were mobilized to build a giant snow sculpture. In 1959, about 2,500 people participated in the snow sculpture process, and the Snow Festival also officially attracted the attention of the national media for the first time.

When Sapporo hosted the 1972 Winter Olympics, the Snow Festival's reputation spread internationally. Every year, the Sapporo Snow Festival attracts over 2 million visitors, both from Japan and from many other countries around the world . It is one of Japan's top winter festivals, as well as one of the country's top free admission events.

2. Must-try experiences when participating in the Sapporo Snow Festival

Ice sculptures when lit up at night create an extremely surreal feeling (Photo source: Collected)

2.1. Enjoy the giant sculptures

This festival not only has fun and entertainment activities but also a competition for sculpture masterpieces. Every year the festival holds an international sculpture competition and there are about 400 ice and snow sculptures at the festival.

The giant sculptures are created with the support of many people. Visitors will be amazed by the countless creative and unique ice and snow sculptures of the contestants. In addition, there are also entertainment art shows and traditional cultural beauty of Japan.

2.2. Enjoy vibrant art shows

The Sapporo Snow Festival not only features beautiful snow sculptures, but also amazing light shows. The show starts at dusk and lasts about five to ten minutes. The sculptures are lit up and placed all over the park, creating a magnificent atmosphere at night.

2.3. Experience winter sports

Coming here, visitors cannot miss the extremely interesting games on snow for families, friends and couples. Some of the games visitors can experience:

Skiing on long runs
Explore the ice maze
Snow boating
Snowball fight
Snowman making contest

2.4. Enjoy the cuisine at the Sapporo Snow Festival

The Sapporo Snow Festival features many street food stalls where visitors can sample local Hokkaido cuisine and enjoy food at the stalls or sit in tents in the festival atmosphere:

Genghis Khan BBQ – A famous dish in Sapporo consisting of lamb or veal grilled on a cast iron pan, shaped like a lantern. Genghis Khan is a grilled dish, very suitable to eat with family, friends, lovers in the cold air.
Sapporo Miso Ramen – A famous ramen dish that cannot be missed when visiting Sapporo. This ramen dish is made with rich miso broth, thick noodles and a variety of toppings, including pork, menma (pickled bamboo shoots), cabbage and some other ingredients.
Curry Soup – Curry soup is a famous local specialty of Hokkaido. The soup here is thinner than curry soup in other places, made with many fresh vegetables and foods such as chicken, pork or seafood, often served with white rice.
Ishi-Yaki – A traditional dish, Ishi-Yaki is rice cooked in a hot stone pot. Often paired with pork or seafood.

Besides the suggested dishes, visitors can try many other typical dishes in Hokkaido, fresh seafood dishes are prepared in a variety of ways such as snow crab, sushi...

Winter in the land of the rising sun also takes place festivals covered in white, with extremely vibrant large models such as the Sapporo Snow Festival. Admiring ice art models, having fun in the festival under the snow will bring a very special experience when traveling to Japan in winter.

Source: https://www.vietravel.com/vn/am-thuc-kham-pha/le-hoi-tuyet-sapporo-v15842.aspx