[2026] Guide to Music Festivals and Outdoor Events in Hokkaido and the Tohoku Region

“HBC Idol Festival 2026 Namera Menkoi Idol Winter!” is an idol event hosted by HBC Hokkaido Broadcasting, to be held at Sapporo’s Kanamoto Hall in February 2026 during the Sapporo Snow Festival. Popular idols familiar from HBC Radio will gather in midwinter Sapporo, with acts including Title TBA, Phantom Theta, and SKE48. The event will also be streamed under the Pococha presents banner.

Since its start in 2009, this is Hokkaido’s only joint K-POP music festival and, as an official Sapporo Snow Festival partner event, it marks its 17th edition. Staged at Zepp Sapporo in Sapporo, it promotes Japan–Korea cultural exchange and the GFSC charity campaign, and is known as a “gateway to K-POP stardom” that has featured artists like BTS and SHINee. In February 2026, four boy groups—n.SSign, JUSTB, ONE PACT, and TIOT—will come together.

“SNOW MIKU” is a festival held annually in Hokkaido since 2010, as Crypton Future Media—the developer of Hatsune Miku—is based in Sapporo. In 2026, its 17th iteration will take place over two days, February 7–8, with Wing Bay Otaru in Otaru serving as the main venue. With the theme “Happy Pâtisserie,” the main visual will be by Bu-ta and the theme song by Iyowa, and a range of programs will bring the world to life, including the Snow Miku snow sculpture, the Snow Miku tram, and a creators’ market.

UPOPOY CULTURE FEST is a winter event held at Upopoy (the Symbolic Space for Ethnic Harmony) in Shiraoi, Hokkaido, themed around the exchange of Indigenous cultures. Through concerts by Ainu and Taiwanese Indigenous bands, a stage production presented by Takeshi Ukaji, and the International Indigenous Museum Symposium, attendees can experience both the traditions and new expressions of Indigenous cultures through music, film, and dialogue. It will be held in February 2026.