The Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic has affected major events in Japan this year, cancelling most traditional summer matsuri and the Fuji Rock music festival. It seems even next year’s schedule will be impacted, too, including Sapporo’s 72nd Snow Festival in February.
Set to take place from February 4 to 11 2021, the Sapporo Snow Festival is known for its gargantuan, artistic sculptures made of snow and ice, attracting thousands of tourists from Japan and all over the world. The festival is a beacon of light in the long, dark winter days and boasts ice sculpture contests, sledding, food stalls and more in Odori Park, which runs for 1.5 kilometres in central Sapporo. Unfortunately, next year’s festival will be scaled down with a lighter schedule and smaller sculptures.
Japan Today reports that the festival organising committee has struggled to attract sponsorship due to the virus outbreak, and will be unable to fund the creation of the festival's signature 15-metre tall sculptures, which are usually modelled after world landmarks and famous characters. The video below highlights some of the most impressive creations from the 2019 festival.
However, it’s not all bad news. The smaller festival will feel more local and intimate, better suited for the residents of Sapporo. Quoted in the aforementioned Japan Today article, a committee member said at a press conference: ‘It's disappointing we won't have impressively large sculptures, but going back to our roots, we'll make it a (simpler) snow festival that primarily entertains local citizens’.
Let’s cross our fingers and hope this summer will see smaller, more local festivals as well. Japan’s entry ban is still in place for the time being, although a travel bubble could be a possibility later this summer.
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