Japan's annual Sapporo snow festival kicks off

(VNF) - The annual Sapporo snow festival kicked off on Monday (Feb. 6^th) featuring ice sculptures of iconic locations, movie characters, celebrities, and even the U.S. president, Donald Trump.

The sculptures of U.S. President Donald Trump and Darth Vader. (Photo: Instagram@mikkokokslien)

One of the largest exhibits of the festival was Paris' famous monument, the Arc de Triomphe, measuring 17.5m in height and 24m in width - one-third the size of the original.

A short ceremony was held in front of the monument, where people gathered to watch the French flag hoisted at full mast.

Large Snow Sculpture: “Arc de Triomphe”. (Photo: Instagram@alexvillas)

Other recognizable figures included singer Pikotaro, who rose to fame when his song "Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen" went viral on Youtube last year.

A sculpture of Japanese comedian Piko Taro. (Photo: [email protected])

The Sapporo Snow Festival, marking its 68^th event this year, will be showcasing more than 200 sculptures until Sunday (Feb. 12^th), and is predicting a turnout of more than 2 million visitors.

The Festival began in 1950, when local middle and high school students exhibited six snow sculptures at Odori Park. Today, it has become a major wintertime spectacle in Sapporo attracting visitors from all over Japan and abroad.

Snow sculptures and ice sculptures large and small line Odori Park for around 1.5 km between 1-chome and 12-chome, and the statues are lit up at night. The 11-chome site is for international participants, where teams from around the world display their works, and visitors can also watch their works in progress during the festival.

The Tsudome site has giant snow slides and other ways to have fun in the snow, while the Susukino venue features an ice sculpture contest, an ice bar, and colorful lighting for night-time viewing.

Large Ice Sculpture: “Decisive Battle: Final Fantasy in Snow”. (Photo: Instagram@sugarplum_scary)

Large Snow Sculpture: “Star Wars 40^th Anniversary - Star Wars in White”. (Photo: Instagram@aran_katchup)

Large Snow Sculpture: "Nara – Chukondo, Kohfukuji Temple". (Photo: Instagram@alexvillas)

Minh Phuong