Sapporo's Winter Calendar 2026–27: Illuminations, Christmas Market, and Snow Festival

In short: as of October 9, 2026, the official pages show these dates for winter 2026–27. The Sapporo Snow Festival’s announcement of July 13, 2026 gives February 4 to 11, 2027 (8 days). The Sapporo White Illumination pages show an opening on November 20, 2026, with the Odori Park venue ending on December 25 and four other venues running into February or March 2027. The Munich Christmas Market in Sapporo page shows November 20 to December 25, 2026. One of the six White Illumination venues, Nakajima Park, has no dates yet. I only repeat dates that an official page shows, and some of those pages still contain text that looks left over from last year, so please recheck before you book anything.

If you are planning a winter trip from a warm country, these three are among the best-known winter events. This post collects them in one table and links the official sites.

Please read this first: this post is general information. I am a private resident of Sapporo, not a company, a tour operator, or an event organizer, and I am not affiliated with any of these events. Dates were checked on October 9, 2026. Organizers can change dates, times, and venues, so the official pages always come first. Temperatures and snow records are in my post When Does It Snow in Sapporo? The First Snow and How the City Changes, taken from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA).

The winter calendar at a glance

The official sites, in plain text so that you can search for them: the Sapporo White Illumination official website (さっぽろホワイトイルミネーション｜公式ウェブサイト) and the Sapporo Snow Festival official site (さっぽろ雪まつり公式サイト). Links are in the sources line at the end of this post.

A note on the White Illumination and Munich pages. The start and end dates on these pages match the 2026 calendar, for example, November 20, 2026 is a Friday, as the pages say. However, I also found lines on the same pages that look like last year’s text: one line gives December 23 as a Tuesday and one gives December 5 as a Friday, but in 2026 those days are a Wednesday and a Saturday. Because of this, I treat the dates as “shown on the official page” and not as final. My suggestion: check the official page again before you fix your plans.

Sapporo White Illumination

The official site describes the White Illumination as a winter tradition in Sapporo that began in 1981 on the Odori Park square (West 2-chome) with about 1,000 light bulbs, according to the page. It lists six venues: Odori Park, Ekimae-dori, Minami-1-jo, Kita-3-jo plaza (Akapla), the plaza at the south exit of Sapporo Station, and Nakajima Park.

• Odori Park: November 20 to December 25, 2026, with lighting from 16:30 to 22:00 according to the venue page. The page also says “12月23日～25日の期間のみ24：00まで点灯いたします” (my translation: lit until 24:00 only from December 23 to 25), so please recheck it, since some text on these pages may be last year’s. The page adds that the lighting hours may change during the event without notice.
• Ekimae-dori: November 20, 2026 to February 11, 2027, lighting from 16:30 to 22:00. The page gives a later closing time of 24:00 for “12月23日（火）～25日（木）” (December 23 (Tue) to 25 (Thu)). Those weekday labels do not match 2026, so this may be last year’s text; please recheck.
• Minami-1-jo: November 20, 2026 to March 14, 2027, lighting from 16:30 to 22:00. The page gives a later closing time of 24:00 for “12月21日（日）～25日（木）” (December 21 (Sun) to 25 (Thu)). Those weekday labels do not match 2026, so this may be last year’s text; please recheck.
• Kita-3-jo plaza (Akapla) and Sapporo Station south plaza: both November 20, 2026 to March 14, 2027. Their pages say the start time changes with sunset. The Akapla page gives 16:30 to 22:00, and the station south page gives 16:30 to 24:00.
• Nakajima Park: the page says this is a new venue and shows “coming soon” for the period and hours. It says details are expected to be announced around late October.

For comparison, the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan (NAOJ) table puts the Sapporo sunset at 16:00 in early to mid December, so at the venues whose lighting is listed as starting at 16:30, the lights switch on about half an hour after sunset. That is covered in my post When Does It Snow in Sapporo? The First Snow and How the City Changes.

Munich Christmas Market in Sapporo

The official page for the market is part of the White Illumination site. It calls Munich, Germany a sister city of Sapporo and says the market started in 2002 as part of the friendship-city partnership (my translation of the page). It mentions Christmas food, gifts and crafts, and also hot wine.

Because the page gives two slightly different venue lines, I would check the venue map on the official page before you go.

Sapporo Snow Festival 2027

The organizer’s announcement of July 13, 2026 titled “2027さっぽろ雪まつり（第77回）の開催概要について” gives these basics (my English translation):

For the Odori venue the announcement says the festival centers on 5 large snow sculptures, along with medium and small sculptures and winter attractions. In its plan, the Sapporo International Art Festival 2027 takes the 2-chome block. The program for each venue is not final: the venue pages on the festival site say that the 2027 details will be updated from mid-December 2026, and that the information shown now is from the 2026 festival.

What to do with this information

• Before booking: open the official pages and check the dates again. Everything above is as shown on October 9, 2026.
• Overlap: the Odori Park illumination and the Munich Christmas Market both run from November 20 to December 25, 2026 in the dates shown. The Snow Festival runs from February 4 to 11, 2027. Four White Illumination venues are shown as still lit in early February (Ekimae-dori until February 11, and Minami-1-jo, Akapla, and Sapporo Station south plaza until March 14), so they overlap with the festival.
• If you want only one: my suggestion: for lights and the Christmas market, plan for late November to December; for the Snow Festival, plan for the first half of February.

Many of these events are in the Odori, Susukino, and Sapporo Station areas. For an indoor route between those areas, see this snowy-day underground walkway guide on A Local’s Guide to Sapporo, a sister site written by the same Sapporo resident.

For how the seasons compare across the year, see Best Time to Visit Sapporo: A Local’s Season-by-Season Calendar.

FAQ

When does the Sapporo Snow Festival start in 2027?

The organizer’s announcement of July 13, 2026 gives February 4 (Thu) to February 11 (Thu, national holiday), 2027, 8 days, at the Odori, Tsudome, and Susukino venues. The 2027 program details are planned to be updated from mid-December 2026.

When do the White Illumination lights start in 2026?

The official venue pages show November 20, 2026 as the opening day. The Odori Park venue ends on December 25, the Ekimae-dori venue on February 11, 2027, and the Minami-1-jo, Akapla, and Sapporo Station south plaza venues on March 14, 2027. The Nakajima Park venue has not announced its dates yet.

When is the Munich Christmas Market in Sapporo?

The official page shows November 20 to December 25, 2026, from 11:00 to 21:00 with the last order at 20:45. The venue is in Odori Park; check the page’s venue map.

Are these dates final?

Not necessarily. The Snow Festival dates come from an official announcement dated July 13, 2026. The White Illumination and Munich pages show dates for 2026–27, but they also contain some text that looks left over from last year, so please recheck. The organizers can change schedules.

Are the events free to enter?

I did not verify this, so I cannot say. Please check each official page for admission, fees, and any restrictions.

Sources checked: さっぽろホワイトイルミネーション｜公式ウェブサイト (Sapporo White Illumination official website) (Japanese), さっぽろホワイトイルミネーション｜大通会場 (Odori venue) (Japanese), さっぽろホワイトイルミネーション｜駅前通会場 (Ekimae-dori venue) (Japanese), さっぽろホワイトイルミネーション｜南一条通会場 (Minami-1-jo venue) (Japanese), さっぽろホワイトイルミネーション｜札幌市北3条広場 (アカプラ)会場 (Akapla venue) (Japanese), さっぽろホワイトイルミネーション｜札幌駅南口 駅前広場会場 (Sapporo Station south plaza venue) (Japanese), さっぽろホワイトイルミネーション｜中島公園会場 (Nakajima Park venue) (Japanese), 2026 ミュンヘン・クリスマス市 in Sapporo | さっぽろホワイトイルミネーション (Japanese), 2027さっぽろ雪まつり（第77回）の開催概要について - News - さっぽろ雪まつり (Japanese; dated July 13, 2026), 大通会場 - さっぽろ雪まつり (Odori venue) (Japanese), さっぽろ雪まつり公式サイト (Sapporo Snow Festival official site) (Japanese), National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Sunrise/Sunset @ Sapporo (Hokkaido) 2026-12 - ECO, NAOJ. Checked on October 9, 2026. This post is general information; events can change, so please check the official pages. I did not verify admission fees, so this post does not state them.