nature & seasons · China
Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival
哈尔滨国际冰雪节
The short answer
Winter festival in Harbin built around Harbin Ice-Snow World, the Sun Island snow sculpture expo and the Zhaolin Park ice lanterns; the 42nd edition opened on 5 January 2026.
Where
Harbin
Country
China
When
annual, official opening on 5 January; the ice and snow parks open from mid or late December and stay open until late February, depending on weather
Last held
2026-01-05 to 2026-02-21
Next edition
2027-01-05
Next dates are
customary opening date, not announced
Organiser
Harbin Municipal People's Government
Visitors
more than 120,000 visitors in one day at Harbin Ice-Snow World, a record (February 2026, People's Daily Online); season total not found
Good to know
The official English name is 'China Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival'; the international ice and snow sculpture competitions are part of it. The 27th Harbin Ice-Snow World opened on 17 December 2025 and reportedly closed on 21 February 2026 after warm weather (closing date from a single search summary). For 2026-27 the park is to expand to 1.25 million square metres; no opening date had been published, and travel sites estimate about 20 December 2026. The 5 January 2027 ceremony date is the fixed customary date, not an announcement. Temperatures of -20 to -30 C are common. Organiser and local name are not confirmed from a fetched official page; no official URL verified.
Kungfucius says: A whole city built of ice at minus twenty. Kungfucius learned the word for 'frostbite' on day one.