Sapporo Autumn Fest

Sapporo Autumn Fest is Hokkaido’s largest food festival, held over three weeks in Odori Park from mid-September to early October. More than 100 food stalls line the park’s one-kilometre length, drawing around 2 million visitors across the event period. The festival is organised around the full breadth of Hokkaido’s agricultural and seafood production, making it one of the most comprehensive showcases of regional Japanese food anywhere in the country.

What to Eat

Hokkaido produces an unusually wide range of quality ingredients for a single prefecture: Dungeness crab, uni (sea urchin), scallops, salmon, Wagyu beef from Tokachi, dairy from the central highlands, corn, potatoes, and wine and craft beer from the Yoichi and Furano valleys. The Autumn Fest stalls bring all of this together in one location. Highlights include:

Seafood: Grilled scallops (hotate) directly off the shell, uni on rice, crab legs, and fresh salmon sashimi from Hokkaido’s fishing ports. The seafood section at the Odori 4-chome area is consistently the most popular.

Soup curry: Sapporo’s signature dish, a thin coconut and spice-based curry with a whole chicken leg and vegetables - several of the city’s best-known soup curry restaurants operate stalls at the fest.

Hokkaido wine and craft beer: The wine stalls at the festival typically feature bottles from Hokkaido’s Yoichi and Otaru regions alongside producers from across Japan. Sapporo and Hokkaido’s growing craft beer scene has its own dedicated section.

Ramen: Sapporo miso ramen, the richest of Japan’s ramen styles, alongside shio (salt) and shoyu (soy) variants from around Hokkaido.

The Park Setting

Odori Park runs east-west through central Sapporo for 12 city blocks. The festival fills roughly eight of these blocks; each block is dedicated to a different food theme or regional producer. Seating is plentiful, with picnic benches and chairs throughout. The festival timing coincides with Hokkaido’s best autumn weather: September and early October bring clear skies and temperatures of 15-22°C, cooler than most of Japan’s major cities at the same time of year.

Getting There

Sapporo is served by New Chitose Airport with direct flights from Tokyo, Osaka, and other major cities (approximately 1.5 hours from Haneda or Itami). From New Chitose Airport, the JR Rapid Airport train reaches Sapporo Station in 37 minutes. Odori Park is two stops on the Namboku Line subway from Sapporo Station, or a 15-minute walk. See our Sapporo guide for accommodation and further food recommendations.