The second largest winter festival in Japan, Asahikawa Winter Festival however always features the biggest snow stage in Japan every year. In 1994, the snow Korean Fortress has made to the book of the Guiness World Record as the world’s biggest snow construction. “Construction” is probably the right word. The transformer I saw the last time I visited was gigantic! It was indeed more a construction where you could walk up to the top and slide down.
In addition, there are smaller snow sculptures, snow slides, a snow bar, food and drink stalls, and well as performance on the opening and finale of the winter festival. Locating at the Asahibashi bridge next to the Tokiwa park, the Asaihibashi Site is the main snow festival site for every one to enjoy. It is within walking distance from Asahikawa JR station (1 kilometer) or you may take a free shuttle bus that runs every 20 minutes or so between the station and the site during the winter festival.
In 2016, the Winter Festival will be held from February 6 to 11, same period of time as the Sapporo Winter Festival. If you have children, this is a not-to-be-missed winter festival, much bigger than the Tsudome Site in Sapporo.
Really, the main stage is massive every year! Look at how small these people are to get the sense of scale. The small dots of people at the top right are lining up for the exciting snow slide. 每年，旭川雪祭在旭川橋會場這裏的巨型雪雕舞台是一個非常壯觀的雪雕，有好幾層樓高，你看看這些人是多渺小就知道。巨型冰雪舞台也可以玩，在右上角那些人就是排隊玩滑雪梯！There is a different theme each year. It was “transformer” the last time I visited. 每年都有不同的主題。上次我去的時候是變形金剛，場內有多個雪雕造型。Other than the massive snow stage, there are about 50 other smaller sculptures. 除了一座巨型雪雕舞台，場內有約50座其他冰雪雕塑。The Asahikawa Winter Festival is designed for families, many of the snow sculptures are cartoon characters. 旭川的雪祭很適合小朋友，這裏的雪雕很多都是卡通人物，造型可愛。I think this is a Son Goku cartoon character. 我猜這是孫悟空卡通雪雕。Lovely snowmen made by children. 有小朋友裝飾的雪人。
Children are all very creative. 小朋友創意無限。Isn’t this Nipponman cool?! 這個日本人的雪人有形嗎？！The Asahibashi Site is a big site with many slides that keeps the children entertained for hours. 旭橋雪祭會場有好幾條滑梯和小朋友可以玩的雪雕，帶小朋友來要有心理準備玩幾個小時。The snow festival in Japan are great. There are a few different slides suitable for children of all ages. 日本雪祭大部份都照顧到不同年齡的小朋友需要，滑梯也有不同高低。I like these lovely young Japanese children wearing colourful snow jackets. So adorable! 日本的小孩子真可愛，看他們色彩繽紛的雪地造型，給他們一千個 like!
Another group of school taking photos in front of the Ice Village signage. 另一班小學生郊遊團在 Ice Village 前拍大合照。
Getting there and around: There are free shuttles between the Asahikawa JR station and the Asahibashi site during the winter festival. It takes about 10 to 15 minutes. You may walk there (1 kilometre) through the center of town where you will see the International Ice Sculpture Competition site. You may also take free shuttles from Asahibashi Site to Asahikawa Zoo if you want, then come back to the station by bus or taxi. 往返交通：從旭川站有免費穿梭巴士來回會場，車程約10-15分鐘，你也可以徒步前往會場（1公里），途中還可以經過國際冰雕比賽會場。玩完後可乘坐免費穿梭巴士從會場到動物園，回程可選擇自費乘坐巴士或的士回到旭川站。
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