What’s the only thing better than Samurai Darth Vader? As visitors to Sapporo, Japan, can tell you, it’s the epic Darth Vader snow sculpture that’s looming over the city’s annual winter festival.
The biggest attractions at the Sapporo Snow Festival, which draws millions of visitors each year, are the giant, painstakingly constructed snow sculptures. So far this year, the sculptures have included wide-eyed anime girls and jaw-dropping architectural edifices:
The Sapporo Snow Festival starts today in Hokkaido: http://t.co/XBQhOwmwWd #Japan pic.twitter.com/I7UGEelIvw
— zoomingjapan (@zoomingjapan) February 5, 2015
Today is the beginning of the world-famous #SapporoSnowFestival. Here is a picture of a Parthenon made of snow! pic.twitter.com/Qwfh1GJO9J
— WAS Classics (@WAS_Classics) February 5, 2015
札幌雪祭り
— dolphin (@dolphin_nh) January 27, 2015
この作品は、氷と雪で出来てます。
Sapporo Snow Festival
This work is made of ice and snow. pic.twitter.com/l8CMflTd7w
But the main attraction is undoubtedly the giant sculpture of Darth Vader and a small band of stormtroopers presiding over the festival.
Twitter users have flocked to the exhibit, which officially opened today along with the rest of the festival.
https://twitter.com/momoko_f/status/562904986330611713
札幌大通雪祭り会場、スターウォーズ帝国軍のプロパガンダ雪像。手袋の質感がなかなか。 pic.twitter.com/cGaKFKqvnq
— なごめ (@nagome) February 4, 2015
The sculpture, which stands 50 feet high, is officially endorsed by Lucasfilm and overseen by the Walt Disney Company. The finished product reportedly required a jaw-dropping seven million pounds of snow—the largest amount ever recorded at the festival—and took 2,000 workers over a month to build. Here are a few shots of the sculpture in progress:
雨にやられた？さっぽろ雪まつり会場雪像制作中(stv会場) pic.twitter.com/I9SCVgCOSE
— torano60(備えあれば憂いなし) (@segositerasu230) January 28, 2015
The week-long festival is now in its 66th year. Over 2 million tourists visit the snowy spectacle each year, but thanks to Darth and company, that number might be a bit higher this year.
雪まつりのスターウォーズみた！ベイダー卿はep5だった！トルーパーもホスの戦い仕様っぽいしep5かな？ pic.twitter.com/6lxEd4yoAp
— きゃしーさん (@kyakunasut) February 5, 2015
You can see even more detailed photos of the exhibit at RocketNews24.
H/T Kotaku | Photo via Game Watch