The Sapporo Snow Festival is one of Japan’s most spectacular winter events, drawing millions each February to see enormous snow and ice sculptures fill the city. Even outside festival time, snowy Sapporo is a magical winter destination with world-class skiing nearby.

The Snow Festival

For about a week each February, Odori Park becomes an open-air gallery of colossal snow statues, intricate ice carvings and illuminated displays, while the Susukino site showcases glittering ice sculptures. Evenings, when everything is lit up, are the most atmospheric time to visit.

Winter Beyond the Festival

Sapporo sits among some of the world’s best powder snow. Resorts like Sapporo Teine and, a little further out, Niseko offer superb skiing, while the city itself stays lively and warm with its underground malls and steaming bowls of ramen.

Planning a Winter Visit

The festival is extremely popular, so book accommodation months in advance. Dress for serious cold, with proper boots for icy pavements, and build in time to warm up indoors between sights.

Winter is Sapporo at its most dazzling. Year-round, though, the city’s food scene is reason enough to visit, nowhere more than in Susukino.

More Sapporo Travel Guides

• Odori Park and Central Sapporo
• Susukino and Sapporo’s Food Scene
• Day Trips from Sapporo: Otaru and Hokkaido Nature

See our Sapporo Travel Guide for the full overview. Planning the whole trip? Visit The Complete Sapporo Guide for every guide and hotel in one place.