In 1950, some local high school students built 6 snow
statues in Odori Park and attracted about fifty thousand
people to the first Sapporo Snow Festival. Then in 1955,
the Self Defense Force from the Makomanai base,
joined in to make the first humongous snow sculptures.
Also if the snow fall is not heavy in Sapporo, the Self
Defense Force would transport snow from outside the
city. Their participation in the festival still continues today
and is considered a training exercise for them. By 1959,
2,500 people participated in making snow sculptures. It
was also the year the media first reported about the
festival nationwide. Then in 1972 the Winter Olympics
held in Sapporo gave the opportunity to the media to
report about the festival on an international scale. This
gave rise to the International Snow Statue Competition,
which started in 1974, and has teams competing from
different countries especially from Sapporo sister cities
(Portland, Munich, Shenyan, Novosibirisk and Daejeon).
A new aspect of the festival was added in 1983 at
Susukino where there are ice sculptures illuminated by
neon lights on the street. The new attraction made
Susukino the third official site of the Sapporo Snow
Festival. The following year in 1984 the length of the
festival was extended from two days to being a week-
long celebration. Odori Park is the main site of the
Sapporo Snow Festival. Here you can enjoy snow and
ice sculptures of various sizes. It is also the area where
concerts and different events happen. Then the
Susukino Site, located in the entertainment district,
exhibits numerous different ice sculptures where you
experience touching the figures or even sit on them. The
neon street lights of the area illuminate the sculptures to
further enhance the fantasy. The Tsudome features a
more family friendly environment. There you can go
snow rafting, ice sledding, snowboarding, skiing, etc.
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