Source: Wikimedia Commons · U.S. Navy, public domain
The 77th Sapporo Snow Festival runs 4 to 11 February 2027 across three sites, all of them free: Odori lit until 22:00, Susukino until 23:00, Tsudome in daylight only. Otaru's candle festival overlaps six of those eight nights, and the rooms for the week go first.
1The 2027 dates in one table
The festival committee published the outline on 13 July 2026, which settles the dates and the block plan before a single sculpture design is announced. Everything except the dates can still move: the site pages say the 2027 programme is filled in from mid-December 2026.
| Date | What it changes |
|---|---|
| 4–11 February 2027 (Thursday to Thursday) | The 77th Sapporo Snow Festival, open at all three sites and free to walk through |
| 6 February 2027 (Saturday) | Otaru's 28th Snow Light Path opens, and runs to 13 February — six nights with both events live |
| 11 February 2027 (Thursday) | National Foundation Day, the closing night, and Susukino's lights stop at 22:00 rather than 23:00 |
| 12–14 February 2027 (Friday to Sunday) | Sapporo Snow Sports Park at the Daiwa House Premist Dome, the linked event, after the main sites close |
| From mid-December 2026 | The committee publishes the programme: the sculptures, the exact hours and any ticketed attraction |
These are the two coldest weeks of the Sapporo year, which is the point of holding it here: February averages −2.3 °C, and the sculptures hold their shape through the run.
Source: Pexels
2Odori: eleven blocks and five large sculptures
The main site is Odori Park, from Nishi 1-chome to Nishi 11-chome, a strip that runs through the middle of the city. Five large snow sculptures anchor it, and the committee has already said which blocks hold what.
| Blocks | What goes on them |
|---|---|
| 4, 5, 7, 8, 10-chome | The five large snow sculptures |
| 6 and 9-chome | Medium and small sculptures, including the citizen-built ones |
| 1-chome | Winter attractions, the fairground half of the site |
| 2-chome | Sapporo International Art Festival 2027 |
| 3-chome | Small sculptures, and the site's skating rink |
| 11-chome | The International Snow Sculpture Contest |
Nothing on the strip is ticketed except the skating rink at San-chome, and the park is open at any hour: the lights run until 22:00, and the walk along eleven blocks is longer than it looks on a map, which is the reason to give it an afternoon rather than a lunch break.
Source: Wikimedia Commons · U.S. Navy, public domain
The building happens in the open, and it is worth knowing that you cannot watch it at the main site: Odori and Tsudome are closed to visitors before the opening day while the crews finish and the site is fitted out.
Source: Wikimedia Commons · U.S. Navy, public domain
Odori site 大通会場
- Address
- Odori Park, Nishi 1–11-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo · Map
- Hours
- Open through the run; light-up until 22:00
- Closed
- None — the park is a public strip, and it stays open at any hour
- Website
- snowfes.com
3Susukino: the ice, lit until 23:00
The second site is the ice one, and it runs along Ekimae-dori between Minami 4-jo and Minami 6-jo, in the middle of the city's nightlife district. The 2026 edition hung about 60 pieces along that street, including the fish-in-the-ice blocks and the ice-carving contest entries.
The road is a thoroughfare the rest of the year, so the ice stands on the pavement and you walk it in either direction with no gate and no ticket. Lights run until 23:00, an hour later than Odori, with the closing night at 22:00.
Source: Pexels
Sapporo's White Illumination is in its 46th winter on the same streets — Odori, Ekimae-dori, Kita 3-jo Hiroba and Minami 1-jo-dori — so the walk between the two sites is lit whichever way you go.
Susukino site すすきの会場
- Address
- Ekimae-dori, Minami 4-jo to Minami 6-jo, Chuo-ku, Sapporo · Map
- Hours
- Light-up until 23:00, and 22:00 on the closing night
- Closed
- None — the ice is on a public street, viewable at any hour
- Website
- snowfes.com
4Tsudome: the family site, 10:00 to 16:00
Tsudome is the third site and the only one built for children: a tube slider, snow rafts, a sledge slope, and a hall indoors with food stalls, seating and play equipment for the days when the wind is up. It runs 10:00 to 16:00, and attractions start closing early once the site fills.
It sits east of the centre at the Sapporo Community Dome. The Toho Line reaches Sakaemachi station, and from there it is a shuttle bus or about 15 minutes on foot. There is no general car park and no drop-off area, and the tube slider hands out numbered tickets on the busy days.
Sapporo Community Dome, Tsudome つどーむ会場
- Address
- 885-1 Sakaemachi, Higashi-ku, Sapporo · Map
- Phone
- +81 11-787-5000 (the site office, during the run)
- Hours
- 10:00–16:00, across the full eight days
- Closed
- None during the run; some attractions take their last visitors early when the site fills
- Website
- snowfes.com
The house rules are worth reading before you promise a child a slide. No drones or balloons, no pets beyond assistance dogs, no smoking anywhere on the site, and no sleds indoors.
5Otaru's Snow Light Path, 6 to 13 February
Otaru puts candles out along its canal and the old Temiya railway line for the 28th year in 2027, from 6 to 13 February, which overlaps the Sapporo festival for six nights. The main venues are the canal, the former Temiya Line and Ashiarigawa Onsen, with smaller sites around the city.
It costs nothing and it has no car park, so the train is the way in, with the canal a short walk from Otaru station. And the two events sit comfortably in one evening between 6 and 11 February, the six nights when both are running: Otaru fills earlier than Sapporo, because the candles are the whole of it.
Source: Pexels
6Getting to the three sites
Odori station is on all three subway lines and puts you at the park. The Namboku Line reaches Susukino in one stop from there. Tsudome needs the Toho Line to Sakaemachi and then the bus. A ride inside one zone costs ¥210, the price on the city's fare table from 1 April 2026.
From New Chitose Airport, the festival's access page puts the journey at about an hour by JR from Sapporo Station, and about 1 hour 10 minutes by bus from Odori Park.
Source: Pexels
Luggage is the practical problem on arrival day, because the sites are not places you take a suitcase into. Sapporo City opens temporary left-luggage desks for the festival at ¥1,000 a bag with same-day collection only: in 2026 they were inside Odori station near the Tozai Line's west ticket gate, and at the tourist information centre in the JR Sapporo west concourse.
Keep reading Visit Japan Web 2026: the eight one-stop terminals
Roads around all three sites close for the run, and the committee asks visitors to come by public transport. At Tsudome the only parking on site is seven spaces for disabled visitors, which need the physical certificate.
7What −2.3 °C asks of you
Late January to early February is the coldest stretch of the Sapporo year, and the festival is built on the far side of it. February averages −2.3 °C.
The festival's own clothing advice is a shirt and sweater under a proper coat, plus a hat, earmuffs and gloves, because you are standing outside for hours rather than walking through. Footwear carries more weight than the coat: pavements freeze and stay icy, so either wear winter soles with a cut tread or buy slip-on grips, about ¥1,000 from the official shop on the Odori site and from convenience stores and station kiosks. The same shop lends walking sticks free of charge.
Getting cold is the scheduling problem. A private hour indoors between the two city sites — a café, the underground walkway that runs under Odori, the department-store food halls — is what makes a four-hour walk of the strip comfortable instead of punishing.
8Where to sleep that week
The festival draws more than two million visitors, and the rooms nearest the two city sites go first. Three bases work.
Susukino puts you inside the ice venue and the nightlife, and it is the loudest of the three. Odori and the Nishi blocks put you beside the park, a walk from both sites. Sapporo Station is the least scenic and the most practical, because the airport train, the subway and the JR lines all meet under it.
Source: Pexels
For this week the cancellation terms matter more than the rate: a February storm at New Chitose can move a flight by a day, and a room you cannot cancel is the one that costs. The capacity and per-person rules decide what a family of four actually pays.
| For the festival week | Why before you go | Check tickets |
|---|---|---|
| Sapporo hotel | The week is Hokkaido's winter peak, and the rooms by Odori and Susukino go first | Trip.com Klook KKday |
| Airport transfer | New Chitose is an hour from Sapporo by rail, and the festival week is the busiest of the Hokkaido winter | Kiwitaxi |
| Left-luggage storage | You cannot take a suitcase to a snow sculpture, and the city's own desks are same-day only | Radical Storage |
| Japan eSIM | Subway routes, festival notices and the numbered-ticket times all live on a phone | Trip.com Airalo eSIMania |
9Questions and answers
The dates, the hours, the access and the cold, in the order a Sapporo week gets planned.
When is the Sapporo Snow Festival in 2027?
4 to 11 February 2027, the 77th edition, on three sites: Odori Park, Susukino and Tsudome. The festival committee published that outline on 13 July 2026, and the detailed programme — the sculptures, the hours and any ticketed attraction — follows from mid-December 2026.
Do I need a ticket for the Sapporo Snow Festival?
No. All three sites are free to walk through, and Odori and Susukino can be visited at any hour. The paid exceptions are some of the attractions at Tsudome and the skating rink at Odori's San-chome.
What time do the sites close?
Odori's lights run until 22:00, and the park itself is open at any hour. Susukino's ice is lit until 23:00, an hour earlier on the closing night. Tsudome runs 10:00 to 16:00, and attractions there start closing early when the site fills.
How do I get to the three sites?
Odori station sits under the park and is on the Namboku, Tozai and Toho lines. Susukino station is one Namboku Line stop away. Tsudome takes the Toho Line to Sakaemachi and then the shuttle bus, or about 15 minutes on foot. A one-zone subway ride is 210 yen.
Can I watch the snow sculptures being built?
Not at Odori or Tsudome: both are closed to visitors before the opening day while the crews finish the sculptures and the site is fitted out. Susukino is the exception, because its ice carving starts about three days before the festival and happens on a street that stays open.
What is there to do in Sapporo the same week?
Otaru's Snow Light Path, the 28th edition, runs 6 to 13 February 2027, so six of its eight nights overlap the Sapporo festival. Its venues are the Otaru Canal, the former Temiya Line and Ashiarigawa Onsen, it costs nothing, and it has no car park, so the train is the way in.
What should I wear to the Sapporo Snow Festival?
Sapporo's February average is -2.3 degrees, and you are standing outside rather than walking, so the festival advises a shirt and sweater under a proper coat, with a hat, earmuffs and gloves. Winter soles or slip-on grips matter more than the coat, because the pavements freeze and stay icy.
When should I book a hotel for the festival week?
Early, and with free cancellation. The festival draws more than two million visitors and the week is Hokkaido's winter peak, so the rooms nearest Odori and Susukino go first. A February snowstorm at New Chitose can move a flight by a day, which is what makes the cancellation terms worth more than the rate.
Keep reading
Sources
- Sapporo Snow Festival Executive Committee — 2027さっぽろ雪まつり（第77回）の開催概要, published 13 July 2026: the 77th festival from 4 to 11 February 2027, the three sites, Odori from Nishi 1-chome to Nishi 11-chome, five large sculptures, the per-block plan, and Sapporo Snow Sports Park at the Daiwa House Premist Dome on 12–14 February 2027 (snowfes.com/news/948.html)
- Sapporo Snow Festival — 大通会場, すすきの会場 and つどーむ会場: Odori's light-up to 22:00; Susukino's to 23:00 and 22:00 on the closing night; Tsudome 10:00–16:00 at 885-1 Sakaemachi with the Sakaemachi shuttle, the 15-minute walk and no general car park (snowfes.com/sites/)
- Sapporo Snow Festival — よくあるご質問: the February average of −2.3 °C; free admission at all three sites apart from some Tsudome attractions and the Odori 3-chome skating rink; the subway station for each site; about an hour by JR and about 1 hour 10 minutes by bus from New Chitose; the ¥1,000 left-luggage desks; no visitor entry to Odori or Tsudome before the opening day (snowfes.com/faq/)
- Sapporo Snow Festival — 会期中の交通規制: the road closures around the three sites and the request to travel by public transport (snowfes.com/news/852.html)
- Otaru Tourism Association — 2027小樽雪あかりの路, published 9 June 2026: the 28th Snow Light Path on 6–13 February 2027 (otaru.gr.jp/event/yukiakari2027)
- Sapporo City's official sightseeing site — 小樽雪あかりの路 2027年2月6日～13日: the Otaru Canal, the former Temiya Line and Ashiarigawa Onsen as its venues (sapporo.travel)
- Sapporo City Transportation Bureau — 乗車料金, updated 1 April 2026: subway fares by zone, from ¥210 for one zone (city.sapporo.jp/st/josyaken/ryokin/ryoukin.html)
- Sapporo White Illumination — the official site: the 46th edition and its venues at Odori, Ekimae-dori, Kita 3-jo Hiroba, Sapporo Station's south exit and Minami 1-jo-dori (white-illumination.jp)