The Sapporo Snow Festival (Sapporo Yuki-matsuri) is a festival being held every year in Sapporo, Japan for over seven days in February. Presently, Odori Park, Susukino, and Tsudome are the main places of the festival. The 2013 Yuki-matsuri dates are February 5 to 11.      The festival is one of Japan's largest and most typical winter events. In 2007 (58th Festival), about two million people visited Sapporo to see the hundreds of floating statues and ice sculptures at the Odori Park and Susukino sites, in central Sapporo, and at the Satoland site. The festival is thought to be a chance for promoting international relations. International Snow Sculpture Contest has been held at the Odori Park site since 1974, and 14 teams from various areas of the world participated in 2008.     The subject of the statues differs and often shows an event, famous building or person from the previous year. For example, in 2004, there were statues of Hideki Matsui, the famous baseball player who at that time played for the New York Yankees. A number of stages made out of snow are also constructed and some events including musical performances are held. At the Satoland site, visitors can enjoy long snow and ice slides as well as a huge maze  made of snow. Visitors can also enjoy a variety of local foods from all over Hokkaido at the Odori Park and Satoland sites, such as fresh seafood, potatoes and corn, and fresh dairy products.      Every year the number of Statues displayed is around 400 in total. In 2007, ther were 307 statues created in the Odori Park site, 32 in the Satoland site and 100 in the Susukino site. The best place to view the creations is from the TV Tower at the Odori Park site. Most of the statues are lighted in the evening. The Sapporo Snow Festival Museum is placed in the Hitsujigaoka observation hill  in Toyohira-ku, and displays historical materials and media of the festival. What does the author think of the Sapporo Snow Festival?
Visitors can see the hundreds of statues and ice sculptures. Japan can promote international relations through the festival. Musicians have a chance for giving musical performances. ks5u People can enjoy a variety of local foods from Hokkaido.