Name: Sapporo Snow Festival（さっぽろ雪まつり）
Start: 2027-02-04
End: 2027-02-11
Location: Sapporo, Hokkaido

Sapporo Snow Festival（さっぽろ雪まつり） — Sapporo, HokkaidoNext edition — Feb 4–11, 2027 (CONFIRMED)Crowd size — 2,539,000 visits - Odori + Tsudome · 76th (2026)Sapporo's winter festival fills three sites with snow and ice sculptures, with free admission to each venue. In 2026, Odori and Tsudome together recorded 2,539,000 visits; that figure excludes Susukino and is not a count of unique people. Compare accommodation for your actual dates and budget before choosing a central location.How the date is set — Eight days in early February, announced by the organising committee roughly seven months ahead — the 2027 dates were published on 13 July 2026.Getting a roomGoes first — Compare the middle weekend first if your dates are flexible, then check weekday stays and each plan's cancellation terms.A sold-out listing may reopen after a cancellation or an additional room release. 空きウォッチ Aki checks Rakuten Travel for new openings, so you can act when one appears.Watch the rooms — free, no accountWhat happens, and when

All 8 days - 2026 example Until 22:00 — Odori site (West 1-11 chome) — the sculptures, lit. This is the site in every photograph and the one to plan an evening around.

All 8 days - 2026 example 10:00-16:00 — Tsudome snow slides and family attractions. In 2026 this was a daytime venue; allow transfer time before an evening at Odori.

Weekdays - 2026 pedestrian access 15:00-23:00 — Susukino ice-sculpture street: 2026 pedestrian-road access and illumination hours, not the only hours sculptures can be seen from the street.

Sat & Sun - 2026 pedestrian access 10:00-23:00 — Susukino: 2026 weekend pedestrian-road access and illumination hours.

Final day - 2026 pedestrian access 10:00-22:00 — Susukino: 2026 final-day pedestrian-road access and illumination hours.

How to see itSpectator only — the teams who carve the contest sculptures apply months ahead.Watching for free — All three venues have free admission. Optional attractions may charge separately. As a 2026 example, the Odori 3-chome rink charged adults ¥2,500 in advance or ¥3,000 on the day, and high-school age and under ¥800 or ¥1,000. Recheck the 2027 attraction prices when published.Where to stayHow hard it actually is — Sapporo has a large accommodation market, but a room at your preferred price and distance from Odori is not guaranteed. Compare actual availability for the whole stay, including less central locations.What a night costs — Check the total for your chosen dates and room type. Add lodging tax: Sapporo charges ¥200 per person per night below ¥50,000 and ¥500 at ¥50,000 and above, plus the separate Hokkaido prefectural tax; both began on 1 April 2026.Know before you go

Standing outdoors in February can be cold, and paths may be icy. Wear footwear with grip and plan warm-up breaks. Bad fit for: Anyone without proper winter footwear, and small children who cannot say they are cold.

If your Hokkaido itinerary is short, start with a central venue visit and add other sites or activities only when the travel time fits. Bad fit for: First-time visitors on a seven-day, multi-city itinerary.

What regulars do

Visit Tsudome during its published daytime hours; in 2026 it closed at 16:00. You can then plan an evening at Odori, allowing transfer time. Tsudome is about a 15-minute walk from Sakaemachi on the Toho subway line, with a shuttle when the organiser operates it. Icy conditions are possible, so check the next edition's transport details. (How we know: The official Tsudome page and FAQ give the 2026 daytime hours, Sakaemachi walk and shuttle approach. Next-edition details need rechecking.)

The 2027 dates are confirmed. The 2027 hours are not, and the venue pages do not make that obvious — each one shows the 2027 date range above content the organiser still labels 2026, with 2027 details due from mid-December 2026. So the hours above are the 2026 pattern: good enough to plan a trip around, not good enough to plan a last train around. Re-check in December. (How we know: The venue pages carry 「2026年開催内容（2027年開催は12月中旬より更新予定）」 above the 2027 dates — the organiser's caveat.)

Do not plan from the festival's English website. It still shows the 75th edition and February 2025 dates — two editions behind the Japanese site, which has carried the 2027 dates since 13 July 2026. If the English page makes you think the dates are not out yet, they are. You are reading a stale page. (How we know: The Japanese top page and the 13 July 2026 news item both show 4-11 February 2027; the English site shows 2025.)

Do not expect the official site to help you find a room. There is no accommodation section on it at all — no hotel list, no lodging advice, not even a link in the navigation. (How we know: No 宿泊 / hotel / ryokan link, menu item or section anywhere in the navigation, sitemap or FAQ.)

Similar events

Chichibu Night Festival — Chichibu, Saitama. Dec 2–3, 2026

Zao Snow Monsters (Juhyo) — Yamagata, Yamagata. Dec 26–27, Dec 30–31, 2026; Jan 1–3, Jan 9–11, Jan 16–17, Jan 22–24, Jan 29–31, Feb 5–7, Feb 10–14, Feb 19–23, 2027

Shirakawa-go Winter Light-Up — Shirakawa-go, Gifu. Jan 11, Jan 17, Jan 24, Jan 31, 2027

Nozawa Onsen Dosojin Fire Festival — Nozawa Onsen, Nagano. Jan 15, 2027

Sources

2026 76th festival results: Odori and Tsudome — Sapporo Snow Festival Executive Committee (read 2026-10-10)

第８表旅館・ホテル営業の施設数・客室数及び簡易宿所・下宿営業の施設数，都道府県－指定都市－中核市（再掲）別 — 厚生労働省「衛生行政報告例」 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare) (read 2026-08-09)

札幌市宿泊税 — 札幌市 (City of Sapporo) (read 2026-08-09)

Tsudome venue; 2026 details pending 2027 update — Sapporo Snow Festival Executive Committee (read 2026-10-10)

すすきの会場 — さっぽろ雪まつり実行委員会 (read 2026-08-09)

2027さっぽろ雪まつり（第77回）の開催概要について — さっぽろ雪まつり実行委員会 (read 2026-08-09)

さっぽろ雪まつり実行委員会 — さっぽろ雪まつり実行委員会 (read 2026-08-09)

All Japan event guides