Japanese The Sapporo Snow Festival

The Sapporo Snow Festival has been a tradition for more than half a century. It started in 1950 with some high school students trying to outdo each other by building elaborate snow sculptures in Odori Park, Sapporo’s central park. This caused other people to join in and created a yearly tradition.

The festival took a major turn when the Self Defense Force joined in a few years later. Using their engineering skills, they were able to build much larger sculptures with far more intricate details. Nowadays some sculptures are 50 feet tall and 150 feet wide.

1. Life-Sized Dinosaurs at the Sapporo Snow Festival - photos by Ryan McDonald
Life-Sized Dinosaurs at the Sapporo Snow
Festival - photos by Ryan McDonald


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3. Oslo Parliament Snow Sculpture in Sapporo Snow Festival


4. Egypcian Sphinx Snow Sculpture in Sapporo Snow Festival


5.Snow Labyrinth - Maze in Sapporo Snow Festival


6. Domokun snow sculpture at the Sapporo Snow Festival


7. Hideki Matsui


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11. Disney's Stitch Snow Sculpture - Sapporo Snow Festival, Japan


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13. Yuki Matsuri a Frozen Delight


14. Ice and Snow - Sapporo Snow Festival, Japan


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