We took the ferry from "Tokyo" to "Sapporo". We had no idea we arrived just before the 61st Annual Snow Festival. What a pleasant surprise! We got to watch a lot of snow and ice sculptures being built, and on our last day saw the final products.
A short history of the Snow Festival:
- 1950, the festival began when six local high school students built six snow statues in Odori Park.
- 1955, Japanese Self Defense Force (SDF) members joined in to build massive snow structures.
- 1959, twenty five hundred people participated in making snow sculptures.
- 1965, a second site was opened at Makomanai (and closed in 2005). The second site was relocated to Satoland in 2006, then Tsudome in 2009.
- 1974, the International Snow Statue Competition began as a part of the Snow Festival. Teams from around the world participate in the competition.
- 1983, a third site was opened at Susukino and ice sculptures were illuminated by neon lights from the streets. The Susukino Queen of Ice beauty contest is held at the site.
I got a "gift of snow" from the Netherlands International Snow Statue Competition team!
Although I couldn't go back for pictures of the International Snow Statue Competition entries because we left the next day, I took tons of pictures of local group sculptures:
Larger sculptures, in progress and finished:
There was a collaboration between Japan and Germany that resulted in the creation of a giant church. A couple even got married in front of it!
