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It’s that time of year again. The Sapporo Snow Festival 2019 is almost here. There is no shortage of great winter festivals in Japan, but Sapporo’s is the most popular and the most well-known internationally. Every year, on the country’s northernmost island of Hokkaido, over 2 million visitors descend on the city for a week of spectacular snow and ice sculptures (plus a few extra days of snow slides and snowtubing at the Tsudome site).
This year marks the 70th edition of the festival. The event kicks off on Jan 31, with the sculpture exhibitions getting underway on Feb 4 — and everything wrapping up on Feb 11. To celebrate the completion of the new Star Wars film trilogy this coming December, one of the big snow sculptures on display will again be themed to "Star Wars" for Japanese fans, as it was in 2017 and 2015.
The droids C-3PO, R2-D2 and BB-8 will form the main backdrop, and there will be a segment in front that allows visitors to board a snow-sculpted version of an X-wing starfighter. This is probably the closest you’ll ever get in real life to visiting the ice planet of Hoth from The Empire Strikes Back.
Maybe you’ve already got your trip booked… or maybe you’re a traveler who thrives on spontaneity. If so, it might not be too late to book a flight and hotel room. In 2017, I was able to do so affordably the week before the festival started. I even managed to snag a room next to Odori Park, so I could visit early in the morning to get pictures of the snow sculptures without the usual crowd around.
Staying near Odori Park is one tip for making the most of your experience at the Sapporo Snow Festival. Here are four other practical suggestions.
1. Be prepared for flight disruptions
So let’s say you’ve locked in your flight, maybe with a low-cost carrier like Peach or Jetstar or maybe with JAL or ANA — the latter of which does boast a fleet of "Star Wars" jets.
Here’s where the reality of air travel to Sapporo sets in. Beware the blizzards of February. There’s a reason they hold the festival at the snowiest time of year. Sapporo and snow go together; planes and snow don’t.
Leave room in your travel budget for emergency hotel accommodations or even — worst-case scenario — a plane ticket on another airline if you can’t wait for the next available flight on yours. With 2 million festival goers, New Chitose Airport can turn into a nightmare when flights start getting delayed or cancelled.
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Dennis Op Den Buijs
Will be my first time, will arrive at Chitose on the 2nd of feb, but instead of a return flight i will take the train down visiting other places in between.