SAPPORO: The Sapporo Snow Festival will be held online next year, organizers said Monday, canceling the in-person event for the first time since its inception in 1950.

The annual festival in the capital of Hokkaido, northernmost Japan, usually features big snow and ice sculptures that spectators can visit.

The festival executive committee, comprising the Sapporo government and others, decided to move the event online due to concerns about the spread of the novel coronavirus.

According to Sapporo government officials, videos of past festivals will be shown on the event’s official website as well as on electronic billboards in the city. The committee is also considering broadcasting videos of the sculpting process for the snow and ice sculptures.

Sapporo has seen occurrences of infection clusters mainly in the Susukino entertainment district since late October.

The cancelation reflected concerns that the festival may “promote the movements of many people in a short period,” a Sapporo official said.

The Sapporo Snow Festival, held in early February every year, attracts over 2 million visitors.

In June this year, the committee said that next year’s event would be held on a smaller scale than usual, canceling the production of big sculptures.

Sapporo Mayor Katsuhiro Akimoto told a press conference Thursday that “it is difficult to host it in a way that draws spectators to a venue.”

JIJI Press