Winter’s Must-Visit Snow Festivals in the World’s Snowy Nations

As the new year arrives, every January and February, the northern lands are blanketed in silver-white snow and ice. Countries across the north always host a variety of snow-exclusive festivals that are a feast for the eyes, fun to take part in, and delicious to eat. Visitors traveling to snowy destinations for the Lunar New Year must not miss this spectacular event.

 

The Holmenkollen Ski Festival, known in Norwegian as Holmenkollen skifestival, is held on the first Saturday of March each year at Holmenkollen Mountain in Oslo, the capital of Norway. It is the second-largest national celebration in Norway after National Day. Since its inception in 1892, the festival has featured a wide range of skiing activities and competitions. Along with China’s Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival, Japan’s Sapporo Snow Festival, and Canada’s Quebec Winter Carnival, it is recognized as one of the world’s four major ice and snow festivals.

In addition to ice sculptures, the Alaska Snow Festival draws inspiration from the Spanish Bullfighting Festival. Every winter, it launches a unique reindeer chase event that attracts many participants each year. Competitors race through snowy streets while enjoying enthusiastic applause and cheers from the crowds. The festival also includes hockey and snow softball matches, and the most fun of all is the Japanese-inspired snowball battle game — Yukigassen (snow battle)!

The Quebec Winter Carnival (French: Carnaval de Québec) is a famous winter celebration in Canada. Held annually from the last Friday in January to a Sunday in mid-February — spanning three weeks — it takes place in Quebec City. Major events are concentrated on the weekends during the festival period, such as canoe races and ice hockey games. Other highlights include snow sculpture exhibitions, nighttime parades, and even the daring bikini snow bath, where participants roll around in snowdrifts wearing swimsuits to challenge their personal limits.

The Sapporo Snow Festival features three main venues: Odori Park, Tsudome, and Susukino in Sapporo City. During the festival, over 300 large and small snow and ice sculptures are displayed across the three venues and surrounding main streets. Artists use their creativity and skill to shape powdery snow into iconic buildings and characters representing various regions of Japan. Interestingly, Taipei 101 in Taiwan and the Zhanghua Giant Buddha were also featured in the 2006 snow season.