Snow Festival
Snow and ice sculptures.
Sondrekv — Public domain · Nkns — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Luca Sartoni from Vienna, Austria — CC BY-SA 2.0 · User:警察マニア — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Ray Swi-hymn from Sijhih-Taipei, Taiwan — CC BY-SA 2.0 · ノボホショコロトソ — CC BY 4.0 · Cesar I. Martins from Jundiai, Brazil — CC BY 2.0 · t-konno — CC BY-SA 3.0
A long park in the heart of Sapporo, running about 1.5 kilometres east to west over 78,901 square metres and dividing the city into north and south. Ōdōri means «large street»: the strip was first planned as a main road, then in 1871 became a 105-metre-wide open firebreak between districts, and over time turned into a park. It has flower beds, fountains, trees and statues, and its lilacs bloom in late spring during the Lilac Festival. In early February it becomes the stage for the Sapporo Snow Festival, Japan's best-known winter festival, with huge sculptures of snow and ice lined up along its length. At its east end stands the Sapporo TV Tower, whose viewing deck, about 90 metres up, looks along the whole park, the city and the mountains, and on clear days as far as the Ishikari Plain. The park is free and always open, above Ōdōri subway station. The tower deck costs about 1,200 yen and opens 9:00-22:00, per visitor guides. The city fills up during the Snow Festival, so book hotels early.
Snow and ice sculptures.
A deck 90 m up.
In late spring.
Ōdōri, central Sapporo
Early February each year, with huge snow and ice sculptures along Odori Park; book hotels early, as the city gets very busy.
