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![IN PHOTOS: Jaw-dropping snow and ice sculptures at 74th Sapporo Snow Festival](https://www.rappler.com/tachyon/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-05-at-2.20.39-PM-1.png)
Taking place across three main venues in the capital of Hokkaido – Odori Park, Susukino, and Tsudome – the 74th Sapporo Snow Festival has officially begun, running from February 4 to 11. The festival is considered the biggest and most popular winter event in Japan, attracting 2 million visitors annually. A total of 196 jaw-dropping snow and ice sculptures can be enjoyed by both children and adults.
Some of the highlights of this year’s snow festival are the five large snow sculptures measuring 12-15 meters tall. More than a thousand personnel from the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force and hundreds of citizen volunteers have made the sculptures over a span of 28 days from January 7 to February 3.
See some of the sculptures here. All photos courtesy of Basil Villacortes Sali.
![Outdoors, Nature, Art](https://www.rappler.com/tachyon/2024/02/IMG_2332-scaled.jpg)
![Person, Outdoors, Adult](https://www.rappler.com/tachyon/2024/02/IMG_2364-scaled.jpg)
![Person, Accessories, Bag](https://www.rappler.com/tachyon/2024/02/14-scaled.jpg)
![City, Urban, Clothing](https://www.rappler.com/tachyon/2024/02/IMG_2345-scaled.jpg)
![Nature, Outdoors, Boy](https://www.rappler.com/tachyon/2024/02/IMG_2398-scaled.jpg)
![Clothing, Coat, City](https://www.rappler.com/tachyon/2024/02/IMG_2312-scaled.jpg)
![Sphere, Balloon, Purple](https://www.rappler.com/tachyon/2024/02/13.jpg)
![Adult, Female, Person](https://www.rappler.com/tachyon/2024/02/10-scaled.jpg)
![Adult, Male, Man](https://www.rappler.com/tachyon/2024/02/7-scaled.jpg)
![Nature, Outdoors, Winter](https://www.rappler.com/tachyon/2024/02/6-scaled.jpg)
![Adult, Female, Person](https://www.rappler.com/tachyon/2024/02/4-scaled.jpg)
![Advertisement, Accessories, Bag](https://www.rappler.com/tachyon/2024/02/3.jpg)
![Adult, Female, Person](https://www.rappler.com/tachyon/2024/02/2-scaled.jpg)
![Backpack, Bag, Lighting](https://www.rappler.com/tachyon/2024/02/9-scaled.jpg)
– Rappler.com
Basil Villacortes Sali has been working in Sapporo since August 2019 as an English teacher in a public senior high school. He’s very happy and excited now that the celebration is back to pre-pandemic level.
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