Sapporo Summer Festival

Imagine you step off the plane, squinting in the midnight sun, and hear a distant roar of laughter, music, and clinking beer mugs. Welcome to the Sapporo Summer Festival, where polite city life takes a brief vacation and your inner party animal gets a serious workout.

First stop is Odori Park, home of the world’s most polite beer garden. Long tables stretch as far as the eye can see, each one stocked with giant mugs of icy beer and platters of Hokkaido seafood. You will wrestle with a slippery crab leg and cheer when you finally win. Strangers become instant friends as everyone toasts the same thing: “Kanpai to warm nights!”

As you wander, your nose leads you to a fiery tandoori stall, a cheesy German sausage stand, and even a sushi bar under the open sky. Fork in one hand and chopsticks in the other, you try to balance more flavors than a circus juggler. Spoiler alert: something will hit the ground. That’s part of the fun.

Come evening, join the Ainu dance performances. Traditional drummers pound rhythms so compelling your feet start dancing on their own. You attempt to mimic their movements, looking more like a startled penguin, but that only earns you more cheers and encouragement to keep going.

Later, when the sun dips low, the park transforms into a fairyland of lights. Lanterns glow along winding paths. Fireworks burst overhead in shapes you never knew existed—like neon jellyfish and smiley faces. You find yourself clapping on every explosion, heart racing with delight.

Nearby, the beer garden morphs into a silent disco under the stars. Everyone wears headphones tuned to different DJs. You bob your head to techno while your neighbor grooves to classic rock. You try to start a conga line and succeed for about three steps before everyone dissolves into giggles and polite applause for your leadership skills.

If you need a break, stop by the beer mug carry contest. Watch brave souls juggle multiple full mugs along a beam. You cheer them on, secretly relieved your attempt during practice ended in a very wet shirt.

Why should you go? Because this festival is a joyful rebellion against routine. Because you deserve to sing at the top of your lungs to songs you only half remember. Because eating fried potatoes the size of your fist at midnight feels like a personal triumph. Because you’ll laugh at yourself, at polite strangers, and at the sheer absurdity of dancing in public with glow sticks.

Sapporo Summer Festival is not just an event. It’s a permission slip to be loud, silly, and happily full of beer and adventure. Pack your appetite, leave your seriousness at home, and get ready for the best organized chaos you’ll ever love.