This year’s Sapporo Snow Festival welcomed visitors for the first time in three years on Saturday, with more than 150 sculptures on display at Odori Park and Susukino. With the easing of COVID-related border measures, organizers are expecting close to 2 million visitors, the same number as before the pandemic. This year’s festival does not feature amusements such as a giant snow slide, and there are no food and beverage booths as part of pandemic countermeasures.
The Sapporo Snow Festival is taking extra measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Signs in English, Chinese and Korean advising visitors to wear masks are dotted around festival sites, and single-direction walkways have been installed to prevent overcrowding. Organizers stressed that crowd safety was a priority following the deadly crush in the Itaewon district in Seoul last year. A large snow sculpture of the family home of British nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale dominated one corner of Odori Park. According to the organizers, it was created as a symbol of gratitude to medical workers.