Sapporo Snow Festival 2027: 4–11 February, 1.5 km of snow sculptures in Odori Park

The 2026 edition took place on 4–11 February. The 77th edition is officially scheduled for 4–11 February 2027.

The Odori, Susukino and Tsudome sites all open over the same dates. The festival is always held in early February, one of the coldest stretches of the year in Sapporo.

Opening and illumination hours can change from year to year. The official site plans to post the 2027 site details from mid-December 2026.

Odori Park runs from 1-chome to 11-chome, with Odori subway station directly beneath the park.

The Susukino site is on Ekimae-dori between Minami 4-jo and Minami 6-jo, mostly ice carvings, and starts right outside Susukino subway station.

Tsudome is in Sakaemachi, Higashi Ward, about 15 minutes on foot from Sakaemachi Station on the Toho subway line, or by shuttle bus from the same station. There is no general parking and no drop-off area.

From New Chitose Airport, the JR Rapid Airport train reaches Sapporo Station in about 37 minutes, and Odori is one more stop on the Namboku subway line.

Both the Odori and Susukino sites are outdoors, with icy pavements and a lot of walking and standing in the wind. Odori subway station sits right under the park, so you can drop into the underground shopping streets to warm up and then come back up for the next block of sculptures. Tsudome's big slide and children's play area are indoors, but the site closes at 16:00.

Tsudome is a daytime site, open 10:00–16:00, and some attractions stop taking new riders early when it is busy.

Odori Park can be visited at any hour during the festival and is lit until 22:00. The Susukino ice carvings are lit until 23:00, or 22:00 on the last day. Between the two visits, warm up in the underground shopping streets or indoors.

One way to plan is to give each site its own slot: Tsudome in the morning or around midday since it closes at 16:00, Odori Park once by day and once at night, and Susukino's ice carvings in the evening.

The festival runs for about a week in early February, the tightest time of year for Sapporo hotels. Next year's dates are already confirmed, so you can book now. The city centre is close to Odori Park and easy to get around; for lower prices or larger rooms, look further out.

The extra costs are mostly at Tsudome: in 2026 the snow raft cost 1,200 yen for adults and 600 yen for primary-school children and younger, and the indoor kids' park charged 130 yen per point or 1,300 yen for 11 points. Prices for 2027 have not been posted yet.

Staying warm comes first. In February Sapporo is often below freezing even by day and colder at night, so wear a heavy coat that keeps out snow and wind, plus gloves, a hat and thermal layers.

The ground freezes and gets slippery. When walking between sites, grip matters: snow boots with non-slip soles are best, or add clip-on spikes to your shoes.

Weekends and the evening illuminations are the busiest times. For shorter queues and fewer people in your photos, go on a weekday during the day.

In 1950 students from three high schools and two junior high schools built six snow statues at Odori 7-chome, and about 50,000 people came to see them. The festival has been held every year since.

The Self-Defense Forces began helping with the large sculptures at the 6th festival in 1955, and the international snow sculpture contest was added at the 25th, in 1974.

The large sculptures are carved layer by layer out of tightly packed snow. In 2026 the Tsurugajo Castle replica at 8-chome took 30 days from start to finish, with 3,800 person-days of Self-Defense Force labour.

Finished sculptures stay in place for the festival, and the melting at the edges becomes more obvious in the last few days. They are taken down after the festival closes.