Snow Festival

Our hotel was nicely located. We were a block from a subway station and the street that the ice sculptures were being built and displayed on. The first night, we looked at the ice sculptures along the street. There were a LOT of them and all very nicely done. At the end there was a dozen or so still being built so we could watch the creations in process.


The next day, we got on the subway and went the one stop to get to the big park where the snow sculptures were. It was a bit spooky. It was snowy and foggy and as we'd walk along the path, these HUGE sculptures would come out of the fog. They were so detailed and large that you'd initially think it was a big building or ... something coming up. Some of the big displays were some 20 to 30 feet tall and 60 feet wide. They had huge replications of historic castles and buildings and even a Disney scene. There was even a slide made of ice and snow that William tried out a couple of times. We found that William was only slightly interested in the sculptures (except for a few that were of trains...). He'd rather play in the snow along the side of the park. It kept him busy, anyway.

It was Friday, so kids were still in school, however, hoards of them were wearing numbered bibs and running around the site with assignments to introduce themselves to foreigners using english and getting their signature, or asking for information. Every time we came within sight, we were mobbed. We heard the following speech about 2 dozen times: "Hello, do you have a minute? I am _______ from Elementary School _____ can I ask you a few questions? Where are you from? What is your favorite thing to do in Sapporo? Thank you, have a nice day!" At one point I had about 15 kids asking for my autograph all at once.


The fog and snow cleared up a bit and we saw a bit more. They had a huge mountain of scaffolding holding up a snow board jump that snowboarders were using to show off to judges.

At night, I went back on my own to take pictures of the sculptures with all the lights on them. They had light and sound shows and some even had bands playing on them.


The next morning was our last day there, and the weather really turned nice. We took a quick peek at the sculptures and then headed to see the other sights. There was a tiny steam powered train that William was thrilled to ride on and the Sapporo TV tower had an elevator and an excellent view of the park, the city, and the surrounding hills. I suspect there is some good skiing out there...