Japan's snow festival is a beautiful annual event - here are 2018's most impressive snow sculptures
Over 50 years ago, a group of high school students on the Japanese island of Hokkaido decided to build snow sculptures. They invited the public to visit, and come they did. "The festival attracted about fifty thousand people and soon became a major winter event of Sapporo," the 2018 Sapporo Snow Festival official history reads.
In modern times, millions of people visit Hokkaido's largest city - Sapporo, like the beer of the same name - each February to celebrate the Sapporo Snow Festival. It's easy to see why:
Dale North
Though I wasn't lucky enough to be there myself, my former colleague-turned-composer Dale North flew to Sapporo for the festivities. Here's a tour through his eyes of the best snow sculptures from this year's festival!
- Global stocks rally even as Sensex, Nifty fall sharply on Friday
- In second consecutive week of decline, forex kitty drops $2.28 bn to $640.33 bn
- SBI Life Q4 profit rises 4% to ₹811 crore
- IMD predicts severe heatwave conditions over East, South Peninsular India for next five days
- COVID lockdown-related school disruptions will continue to worsen students’ exam results into the 2030s: study