Sapporo Snow Festival in Hokkaido, a yearly event which typically takes place within a week — during the first week of February. The word ‘Snow Festival’ may sound intimidating to friends who experience summer all year round. So what can travellers expect when travelling to countries where temperatures dived below zero degree celsius? If you haven't experienced a snow-capped winter, read on to find out more about our adventure and hopefully prep you for your winter escapade…

1. Cheap air tickets to Hokkaido

Contrary to popular belief, air tickets to Japan were cheaper than expected. We went to a few sites to do our research and waited for the right moment — Scoot on Tuesdays! Thank God for Scoot 🙏🏻 Fortunately, we come across cheap tickets to Hokkaido via Scoot, with no stopover. Scoot: $233 (one way, with 20kg baggage)

2. Expensive hotels around Sapporo

We started booking hotel accommodation for Sapporo only during the last week of November — bad idea. The festival is such a huge hit with tourist and the locals. Hotels and Airbnb were already 98% full across Japan. Those available were expensive love hotels. We checked daily hoping there are room cancellations. Fortunately, we managed to find a room in Susukino — three-star hotel cost around $200 - $280 a night! but this is Japan, after all, so we were prepared for the cost. Tip: Learn from our mistake. Do book the accommodation as early as possible as the good ones are likely to snap up like hot cakes!

3. Street Food and Free Gifts at Sapporo Snow Festival at Odori Park

A large area at Odori Park was dedicated to the snow festival, mainly selling Japanese Street Food as well as some fun activities for the family. We were greeted with a galore of street food stalls selling all sorts of delicious Japanese eats — from snow crab legs, giant clams, and super long potato fries and even hot beer!




Come with an empty stomach and be prepared to play at foodie’s playground. Unfortunately, we ate a full meal before heading here. Perfect for families, there were so many funny cosplay characters and mascots which provided entertainment to the little kids/adults for the Instagram-worthy moments.


Walked more and we found a large snow sculpture behind a stage. There was a mini cosplay happening but we couldn’t make out what they were saying in Japanese 🤔


Interestingly, Nivea had a pop-up store allowing visitors to try out their new moisturiser — the marshmallow foam (not available in Singapore). When we entered the pop-up booth, each visitor had an opportunity to participate in a lucky draw. The staff will spin a mini-mystery machine, spitting out coloured balls. In wheel-of-fortune style, if you are lucky, you would walk away with a full-size, pump mousse moisturiser! The pop-up store also allowed visitors to sample different types of Nivea moisturiser for free!

4. Sapporo snow festival at Susukino

Spanning along the streets of Susukino, blocks of shiny translucent ice sculptures, each engraved in their own sponsored company, is a good photo opportunity for visitors.




The ice sculptures looked different during the day and at night. If you do get bored of the ice sculptures, you could pop by one of the shops to do some shopping or have a meal :)

5. Experience the Beautiful Otaru Snow Light Path Festival (Otaru Yuki Akari no Michi)

Romance is in the air at Otaru! Easily accessible via the high-speed rail within 30 minutes from Sapporo station. You would walk by a stretch of picturesque shops before reaching the star of the show. The journey was a pleasant one since there are so many tourist shops, cute snowmen, and artistic snow displays!




When we finally reached the snow light path, the lights were beautifully scattered across the vast river casting a magnificent reflection. The moment which could have been serene was unfortunately ruined by hordes of people! The beautiful and magically decorated with lights along the Otaru river have to be admired with a peaceful heart. An almost splendid view at night is deeply engraved in our memories.

6. Frozen in Niseko (-10 degrees), chilly at Sapporo (0 degrees)

Just when you thought that Sapporo was cold with temperature dipping below 0 degree Celsius, we noticed that the city area was much more 'cold tolerant’ than Niseko. It really depends on which part of Hokkaido you are visiting. Coming from mostly-sunny Singapore, the snow festival was (literally!) a breath of cold air.

7. Powdery soft snow in Hokkaido was the highlight of our trip

With abundant snowfall, Hokkaido is the go-to-place for tourist and adventure seekers who want to experience snow — not ‘normal’ snow but ‘powdery’ soft snow (no kidding)! We read about this and wondered if it was a gimmick but we saw, experienced and felt it for ourselves with snow fights!




The snowfall in Hokkaido is suitable for snow activities like skiing, snow rafting and riding the snowmobile! Tourist and local love the snow activities and the snowfall usually spans around six months! Tourist and locals alike, flock to the magical snowy land for a few weeks or even months to experience the majestic ski slopes!

8. Submerge in a hot spring during a minus 10-degree celsius atmosphere is the sure-fire way to warm up an icy body!

Kutchan is the nearest station to Niseko, Grand Hirafu, and Niseko village. The temperatures at Niseko was colder (-10 degrees) and pouring in heavy snow. Our homestay host drove us to a public hot spring and it was an invaluable experience forever etched in our minds. When we entered the outdoor hot spring where we sank our (naked) bodies in onsen hot spring water, with our faces exposed in the freezing air, we felt a mixture of hot and cold at the same time, which reminded us of the Katy Perry song. We thought our face would be frozen stiff within a few seconds but surprising, it was strangely very warm, comforting and the water opened our pores and calmed the nerves. As a rule thumb, one shouldn't soak too long in the hot tub. This is definitely an experience not to be missed, which is uniquely must-try, only in Japan. We highly recommend Onsen Hot Spring to everyone who isn't shy of their own body or others.

9. Buy souvenirs with Snow Festival Prints as Collectables

If collecting or buying souvenirs is your thing, a good visit to Hokkaido will be necessary. We saw many limited edition packaging — Coke aluminium bottle with Sakura prints, Asahi Sakura edition, Sapporo snow festival edition, Starbucks snow festival edition cup! Do budget some money for these.


If you have read till the end of this post, thank you for bearing with us! we hope to inspire you to travel to Hokkaido. If you have been to Hokkaido or other winter countries, do share your experience with us and tell us… How was your experience like?