The six-day extravaganza of snow and ice began on Sunday with an opening ceremony before a huge sculpture of the Taj Mahal in the centre of Odori Park, which runs through the centre of the largest city on the most northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.
The festival is marking its 63rd anniversary this year, with the International Snow Statue Contest staged for the 39th straight year and attracting teams from 16 countries and cities overseas.
The three-strong teams are from India, Indonesia, Singapore, Sweden, Thailand, Chile, New Zealand, Malaysia, Finland, Hong Kong and Lithuania, as well as the US state of Hawaii and the cities of Daejeon in South Korea, Novosibirsk in Russia and Portland in the US, all of which have sister-city ties with Sapporo.
The entry from Chile, titled “Horizon of Rising Light”, has been designed by architect Juan Meza and symbolises the inner strength that Japan and Chile share in a world that is dealing with global warming, while the Finnish team’s entry is taken from Scandinavian folklore and is named “Chasing Day and Night.”
The judging will take place on February 9, although members of the public can continue to make their own ice and snow sculptures throughout the festival. Some 220 blocks of ice have been placed in the park and other venues around the city for people to sculpt.
One of the highlights of this year’s event is a 15-meter-high replica of Tsuruga Castle, in Fukushima Prefecture, that was carved from snow by children from the prefecture and survivors of the March 11 natural disasters.
Organisers are expecting more than 2 million people to visit the festival, which involves dozens of related events, including at Maruyama Zoo, the Ishiyama Snow Fantasy, a winters sports festival on Mount Okura and snow candle-making events.
The Chinese city of Harbin also hosts a major international ice and snow festival during the winter, while the Alaskan city of Fairbanks will again be staging the World Ice Art Championships from late February. — AFPrelaxnews.com
