In the year 1950, several high school students built six snow statues in Sapporo’s Odori Park. They decided to turn it into a tradition and did it again the next year. Soon, others joined in the fun. Seventy years later, this tradition has become known as the Sapporo Yuki Matsuri (Snow Festival), likely the world’s largest annual celebration dedicated to snow.

Held over three different sites in Sapporo–the largest city in Japan’s northernmost island of Hokkaido–the festival spans one week in early February. Millions from all over the world attend the festival each year and are treated to massive, intricately detailed snow and ice sculptures, food stalls offering local Hokkaido and Japanese food, and various other events involving this phenomenon of frozen water that is so central to life in Hokkaido.

Featured Image: A singer performs in front of the main snow statue display in Odori Park.

Image 1: Snow and anime go hand-in-hand here in Japan.

Image 2: A snowboarder airs it out in the Park Air snowboard competition.

Image 3: A Star Wars themed snow sculpture.

Image 4: The main display is so detailed, it almost blends into Sapporo’s downtown skyline.

Image 5: Food stalls offer all sorts of Japanese treats to visitors.

Image 6: High in the Sky.