Yukimatsuri
The Sapporo Snow Festival is held every February, and the snow sculptures are enormous: some are 25 meters tall and depict buildings, characters, and scenes from mythology. The festival started in 1950 when six high school students built snow sculptures in Odori Park, and it now attracts 2 million visitors. The snow is local (Sapporo gets 6 meters of snow per year), the sculptures are temporary, and the melting is part of the experience.