International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival
Ice sculptures · Harbin, China
The festival
The Harbin Ice and Snow Festival is the world's largest winter festival: a full season, from late December to late February, played by temperatures of -15 to -30 °C in the capital of Heilongjiang. The festival is a form that is currently launched in 1985 from the traditional ice lantern festival, and officially opens every year on January 5.
It is spread out in four locations: Ice and Snow World, an ice town carved in the blocks of the Songhua River — more than 300,000 m3 of ice per year — illuminated from the inside as soon as nightfall; Sun Island, where snow sculptures reach the size of buildings and visit daytime; Zhaolin Park, cradle of ice lanterns; and Central Street, bordered by Russian facades and sculptures, up to the frozen river, which became a playground.
The 2026-2027 season opened on December 24, 2026, with the official ceremony on January 5, 2027. Harbin, along with Sapporo, forms the Quebec Carnival and the Norwegian Ski Festival, the quartet of the world's major winter festivals.
Good to know
Extreme cold (−18 °C on average in January): essential cold equipment. Electronic ticketing dated by location.