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Events in Sapporo
May in Sapporo is filled with blossoms and scent.
Everyone knows spring has arrived when Hunami is over and the
Lilac (Sapporo's official tree) Festival fills the streets
with colour, awakening the city from the long cold winter.
Over
summer revellers get together at the Beer Festival where
the pride of Sapporo is downed in copious amounts along with
other foreign favourites. If you would prefer to treat your
ears
rather than your palate then the Pacific Music Festival, started
by Leonard Bernstein, could be just the ticket.
The weather
may cool down after the Chrysanthemum Festival in late October
but the streets take on a warm glow; Winter
Illumination
turns Odori park into a sparkling white wonderland with the
help of over 300,000 lights. In early February crowds descend
upon
the city for Sapporo Yuki Matsuri, where sculptors from around
the world work with the snow in the streets.
Public Holidays
- 1 Jan - Ganjitsu (New Year's Day)
- 2nd Sun in
Jan - Seijin-no-hi (Coming of Age Day)
- 11 Feb - Kenkoku
Kinem-bi (National Foundation Day)
- 20 or 21 Mar - Shumbun-no-hi
(Spring Equinox)
- 29 Apr - Midori-no-hi (Green Day)
- 3 May - Kempo¯ Kinem-bi
(Constitution Day)
- 4 May - Kokumin-no-Saijitsu (Adjoining
Holiday)
- 5 May - Kodomo-no-hi (Children's Day)
- 20 Jul
- Umi-no-hi (Marine Day)
- 15 Sep - Keiro¯-no-hi (Respect-for-the-Aged
Day)
- 23 or 24 Sep - Shu¯bun-no-hi (Autumn
Equinox)
- 2nd Mon in Oct - Taiiku-no-hi (Health-Sports
Day)
- 3 Nov - Bunka-no-hi (Culture Day)
- 23 Nov -
Kinro¯ Kansha-no-hi (Labour Thanksgiving Day)
- 23 Dec
- Tenno¯ Tanjo¯bi (Emperor's Birthday)
Sapporo
Snow Festival
Since its humble beginnings in 1950, when local students
built six snow statues in Odori Park, the Snow Festival
has grown
into an international event and is the biggest and
most spectacular festival in Japan, and a major tourist
attraction.
Every
winter local and international teams compete in the
Snow Statue Contest
in which sculptors create fantastic art out of snow
and ice. Hundreds of beautiful and elaborate snow
statues and ice
sculptures dot the area, some the size of multi-story
buildings, and it
is these massive sculptures in particular that have
made
the festival famous.
Venue: Odori Park, Makomanai,
and Susukino
Date: 7-13 February 2005
Website: www.snowfes.com/english/index_e.html
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