Tsunan Snow Festival is traditional winter festival held annually in Niigata Prefecture, and it’s one of the most spectacular winter snow festivals in Japan. Check out the detail for the 49th Tsunan Snow Festival & SNOWWAVE2025!

Tsunan Snow Festival (つなん雪まつり) is a traditional winter festival held in Tsunan City, Niigata Prefecture, Chubu Region. The event features snow lanterns, snow domes called Kamakura, snowboard straight jump competition, fireworks and more!

Japan is known for its summer festivals, but what many people don’t know is that there are also winter festivals and they are one of the best things to do at this time of the year. The northernmost areas of the country such as Hokkaido, Nagano or Niigata are areas with abundant snowfall and very cold weather. Tsunan City is known for having the heaviest snowfall in Japan, and on Saturday, March 8, 2025 will hold Tsunan Snow Festival!

The festival features special events such a snowboard straight jump competition called “SNOW WAVE” as well as other snow play and experiences unique to heavy snowfall, such as snow lanterns and Kamakura domes. Kamakura is a snow dome house and a traditional winter item in northern area of Japan. Originally, it started to be built to deify to Suijin (water god). For the finale the popular visitor-participation event and the top attraction of the festival, in which fantastic lanterns are launched into the night sky, will also make a comeback.

The festival will offer a full day of fun, making it the perfect place to create wonderful winter memories! There will also be several stalls at the venue, so visitors can enjoy a hot meal in the snow.

The festival is held on 8 March, and the whole city will turn into a winter wonderland! It’s one of the most beautiful winter events in Japan. If you are visiting Tsunan Snow Festival this winter, just make sure to put warm clothes as it’s really cold during winter and have heavy snow!

<Tsunan Snow Festival & SNOWWAVE 2025>

Map: https://bit.ly/3D10MpE

Address: 585 Boshi, Shimofunato, Tsunan-cho, Naka-uonuma-gun, Niigata Prefecture

Access: 20 min walk from Tsunan Station

Date: March 8, 2025 (Saturday)

Fee: 13,500 yen~ (ticket for the main festival & parking lot)

Official Website: https://snowfes.info/

*Sky Lanterns and SNOWWAVE are only available at the New Greenpia Tsunan site.

For more snow events and spots in Japan, please check out these articles, too!

7 Best Snow Festivals in Japan Best Winter Festivals in Japan : Sapporo Snow Festival to Kamakura Matsuri jw-webmagazine.com

Jigokudani Monkey Park: Meet Snow Monkeys Meet the famous bathing snow monkeys in Nagano, Japan! jw-webmagazine.com

10 Days Itinerary: Tokyo and the Best of Eastern Japan Best of eastern Japan in 10 days: Tokyo, Nikko, Hakone, Mt Fuji and more! jw-webmagazine.com

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Written by

Anna

From Barcelona to Tokyo. Coffee & Adventure lover🌏☕️ 

I started to like Japan because of the anime, music and doramas, but after my first trip to the country I found what I love the most: traveling around, the culture and history. I have travelled a lot in Japan, but I still have many places to discover that I want to share with you🙋🏼‍♀️ Let’s discover Japan together!

 

Also, as a foreigner living in Japan for over 6 years I understand what kind of things are difficult when you move here and I want to help other people in the same situation that I have in the past.