We plan this trip a year ago since it is almost impossible to find places to stay during the festival. The snow festival starts in 1950 with some high school students built 6 snow statues in Odori Park (Sapporo’s central park). Now it features hundreds of snow and ice sculptures created by people from all over the world. The 71st annual Sapporo Snow Festival kicked off on 2/4/2020. It has 3 different locations in Sapporo. The main site is the Odori Site in Sapporo’s centrally located 1.5 kilometer long Odori Park. The 2nd is the Tsudome site for outdoor family-friendly activities and most of them are free. The last one is the Susukino Site, which has around 60 illuminated ice sculptures.
Sapporo snow festival is not the only winter festival in Hokkaido. You can also check Otaru Snow Light Path Festival and Asahikawa Winter Festival.
Odori Site 大通会場
On Display: 2/4/2020 – 2/11/2020 開催期間:2020.2.4 – 2.11
Venue: Nishi 1 chome – Nishi 12 chome 開催場所:大通公園 西1丁目~西12丁目
Gigantic snow and ice sculptures are on display at the Odori Park. There are less people attended the event this year due to the concerns over corona-virus. Most tourists are seen in masks during the snow festival.
People can even ride a small train through the “Cup Noodles and Rui Hachimura (八村 塁, a Japanese-Beninese professional basketball player)” snow tunnel sculpture.
Tsudome Site つどーむ会場
On Display: 1/31/2020 – 2/11/2020 開催期間:2020.1.31 – 2.11
地下鉄東豊線「栄町駅」地下鉄出入口
We visit the Tsudome Site in the morning. Here you will find giant snow sliders and snow rafting area. Inside the dome there are lots food stalls. Next we headed to the next site of Susukino.
Susukino Site すすきの会場
On Display: 2/4/2020 – 2/11/2020 開催期間:2020.2.4 – 2.11
Venue: Nishi 4-chome Ave. between Minami 4 Jo-dori, and Minami 7 Jo-dori ( Ekimae-dori) 会場:南4条から南7条までの西4丁目線(札幌駅前通)
Susukino is also known as a red-light district in Sapporo. It’s only one subway stop from Odori Park.