The Sapporo Snow Festival Executive Committee, made up of the City of Sapporo, Sapporo Tourist Association and the like, made the decision, on December 14, to cancel the Sapporo Snow Festival scheduled to be held in January and February next year. The executive committee is considering alternative plans, including holding the event online, as well as creating snow sculptures at the Sapporo Hitsujigaoka Observation Hill (Toyohira Ward, Sapporo) and relaying that creation process in the form of movies.

According to a spokesperson, the executive committee hopes to produce and relay images on the theme of snow and the history of the Snow Festival, which began in 1950. The proposed subjects include 1) the process of creating the snow sculptures at the Sapporo Hitsujigaoka Observation Hill, 2) projection mapping of images of the large snow sculptures and large snow sculptures from the past and 3) introduction of winter sports such as skiing, skating and the like.