Harbin Ice Festival 2027
Every winter Harbin saws its river into blocks and builds a city out of them, lit from the inside, and every spring it melts. This page covers the 2026/27 season: which of the three separate parks people mean when they say "the ice festival", what -25 °C actually does to an evening outdoors, and what to wear so you last long enough to see it. For the city the rest of the year, see our Harbin guide.
All photographs our own, taken at the Ice and Snow World in December 2025 — the edition whose dates are at the bottom of the next section.
When is the Harbin Ice Festival 2027?
Winter 2026/27
Not announced yet
The operators publish dates and prices each autumn, usually in October or November. Until they do, we list nothing for this season.
Why no dates yet: The opening date depends mainly on the temperature. Harbin Ice and Snow World can only be built — and kept standing — once the daily average temperature holds steadily at around −10 °C, so the dates follow the weather rather than the calendar and are set anew each season.
We are not going to print last winter's dates with this winter's year on them, which is what most pages ranking for this question do. What we can give you is the shape of it: the parks go up in December and come down in February, and the official opening ceremony of the International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival has traditionally been held on 5 January.
For reference: Winter 2025/26
17 December 2025 — 21 February 2026
The edition our photographs come from. Dates from trip reports and operator listings, not from an operator publication we could link.
That is the edition every photograph on this page comes from.
Which ice festival do you actually mean?
Three separate parks get called "the Harbin ice festival" more or less interchangeably in English. They are in different places, they cost different money, and two of them are wasted if you turn up at the wrong time of day. Sorting that out is most of the planning.
| Park | Carved from | Go when | Where | How long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harbin Ice and Snow World哈尔滨冰雪大世界 | Ice | After dark | Songbei | Very large — a full evening |
| Sun Island Snow Sculpture Expo太阳岛国际雪雕艺术博览会 | Snow | Daylight | Songbei | Half a day |
| Zhaolin Park Ice Lantern Fair兆麟公园冰灯游园会 | Ice | After dark | Daoli | An hour or two |
Harbin Ice and Snow World 哈尔滨冰雪大世界
The one people mean when they say "the Harbin ice festival". A temporary city built from blocks sawn out of the frozen Songhua, lit from inside with coloured LEDs, with ice slides several storeys high. It is rebuilt from scratch every year and melts every spring.
Why bother: Nothing else on the list is at this scale, and nothing else is built to be seen after dark.
- Getting there
- Line 2, Ice and Snow World station
- Ticket
- Around 330 CNY for a standard adult ticket in 2025/26, with cheaper evening and student tiers and more expensive combination tickets. Reported figure — not confirmed against an operator publication, and not yet announced for 2026/27.
Sun Island Snow Sculpture Expo 太阳岛国际雪雕艺术博览会
Snow, not ice — packed and carved into figures and reliefs, some of them the size of a building. It sits on the same island as the Ice and Snow World but is a separate park with a separate ticket, and it is a daytime thing: snow has no light inside it.
Why bother: It is the one most visitors skip and then regret, because it is the only venue where the sculpture itself is the point rather than the lighting.
- Getting there
- Line 2, Sun Island station
- Ticket
- Separate ticket from the Ice and Snow World. Not verified, and not yet announced for 2026/27.
Zhaolin Park Ice Lantern Fair 兆麟公园冰灯游园会
The original. Harbin has been freezing lanterns in this park since 1963, which is where the whole thing started before it grew into the giant park across the river. Much smaller, much older in feel, and right in the middle of town.
Why bother: It is a ten-minute walk from Central Street, so you can fit it around dinner instead of committing an evening to it.
- Getting there
- Walkable from Central Street
- Ticket
- Cheaper than the Ice and Snow World, but not verified and not yet announced for 2026/27.
What does −25 °C actually do?
The ice parks are built to be seen after dark, which is also the coldest part of the day. The number itself is not the useful part — what matters is which of your things stop working, and when. Move the slider, or pick the month you are going.
−25 to −30 °C
A normal January night. Exposed skin becomes a real risk within about ten minutes; eyelashes frost; this is the temperature the Ice and Snow World is designed to be seen at.
For scale: 24 °C colder than Berlin in its coldest month and 16 °C colder than Chicago in its coldest month.
What you need at -25 °C
11 of 12Down jacket rated below −20 °C
A city winter coat is not enough. Length matters more than people expect: one that covers the hips keeps the wind off the part of you that gets cold first.
Thermal base layer — merino or synthetic
Not cotton. Cotton holds the sweat you make walking between heated buildings, and then you carry it outside.
Insulated boots with real grip
The pavements are packed snow and polished ice for months. Grip is the part people get wrong, not warmth.
Hat that covers the ears
The fur-flap hats sold on every corner are not a costume; they exist because ears are the first thing to hurt.
Gloves you can keep on — plus thin liners
Liners let you use a phone for a few seconds without going bare-handed. Taking thick gloves off and on all evening is how people end up with numb fingers.
Neck gaiter or balaclava
Also stops your breath fogging your glasses, which is the other reason to have one.
Stick-on hand warmers (暖宝宝)
Sold in every convenience store in Harbin for a few CNY. Buy them there rather than carrying them; stick them inside gloves and on the small of your back.
An inside pocket for the phone
Below about −20 °C a phone that has been out in the open shuts down within minutes even on a full charge. Warm it against your body and it comes back.
Spare camera batteries, kept warm
Same problem as the phone but worse, because a camera has nowhere warm to sit. Rotate two batteries and keep the spare in an inside pocket.
Something over the face, and no bare skin
At these temperatures exposed skin starts to hurt in minutes and can be damaged without you noticing it happen. This is the band where locals cover everything.
Plan for glasses, or leave them off
Lenses fog the moment you step inside and the fog then freezes when you step back out. Contact lenses have their own problems in this cold; there is no clean answer, only knowing it will happen.
Break the evening into stretchesfrom -30 °C
Warming huts and heated shops exist everywhere for a reason. Half an hour out, ten minutes in, is a normal rhythm — and it is how you last long enough to see the place lit.
Assembled from our own trip in December 2025 and from what people actually wear in Harbin, not from a product list. Nothing here is an affiliate recommendation.
Temperatures are Harbin's monthly averages — individual nights go colder. The same dataset drives the climate chart on the city guide.
What people actually eat outside, in that cold
Tanghulu — candied fruit on a stick
冰糖葫芦Fruit on a bamboo skewer, dipped in molten sugar that sets to a shell. Everywhere in northern China in winter and nowhere in summer, because the shell needs the cold to stay hard — in a warm room it turns sticky within minutes. Traditionally hawthorn (山楂), which is sharp enough to carry the sugar; the sweeter fruits are the modern additions.
The stall in the photograph has its counter built out of the same ice blocks as the park around it, which is a very Harbin solution to refrigeration. The board lists six varieties at one flat price.
On the board, all at 15 CNY
- 花红Crabapple
- 大山楂Large hawthorn
- 提子Grapes
- 金桔Kumquat
- 菠萝Pineapple
- 猕猴桃Kiwi
Photographed on the board at a stall inside the Ice and Snow World, December 2025. Stalls on Central Street are usually cheaper.
Frozen pear
冻梨A pear left outside until it goes black and rock hard, then thawed just enough to drink. It looks spoiled and is not. A northeastern winter staple that predates refrigeration by a long way.
Sold by weight at markets; we did not record a price.
Ice cream, sold outdoors, in January
马迭尔冰棍The Modern Hotel bars on Central Street are sold from an unrefrigerated pavement kiosk all winter, because the pavement is the refrigerator. The queue does not shorten at −20 °C, which tells you something about how Harbin thinks about cold.
See the Modern ice cream entry on the city guide.
Getting there in winter
High-speed rail from Beijing
G-trains from Beijing Chaoyang or Beijing South to Harbin West, in the four-to-five-hour range. The line runs through the winter; snow does not stop it.
Journey times not yet verified against an official timetable.
Flights
Harbin Taiping (HRB) has domestic connections across China. There are no direct flights from German-speaking Europe — you connect, usually in Beijing or Shanghai. Winter fog and snow cause more delays here than on the rail line.
Journey times not yet verified against an official timetable.
Getting to the parks once you are there
Metro Line 2 crosses the Songhua and has stations called Ice and Snow World and Sun Island. That line only opened in 2021 and it is the single biggest practical change to visiting the festival in decades.
Journey times not yet verified against an official timetable.
Fares, hours and the station for each sight are on the Harbin Metro page. Note that the metro stops running at 22:30, which is earlier than you will want to leave the ice parks — plan the way back.
FAQ
When is the Harbin Ice Festival 2027?
Not announced yet. The operators publish dates and prices each autumn, usually in October or November. Until they do, we list nothing for this season. As a guide, the previous edition ran 17 December 2025 to 21 February 2026, and the official opening ceremony of the International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival has traditionally been held on 5 January. We will put the real dates here when the operators publish them.
How cold is Harbin during the ice festival?
January is the coldest month, with an average daily low of -25 °C and a high that stays well below freezing. The ice parks are at their best after dark, which is also when it is coldest. That is not a reason to skip them — it is a reason to dress for it and to break the evening into stretches.
What is the difference between the Ice and Snow World and the Snow Sculpture Expo?
Material, time of day and ticket. The Ice and Snow World is built from ice blocks cut out of the river, lit from inside, and is a night visit. The Sun Island Snow Sculpture Expo is carved from packed snow, which has no light inside it, so it is a daytime visit. They are on the same island but are separate parks with separate tickets. The Zhaolin Park Ice Lantern Fair is a third, much older and much smaller event in the city centre.
How much does a ticket to the Ice and Snow World cost?
Not announced for 2026/27. Reported figures for 2025/26 were around 330 CNY for a standard adult ticket, with cheaper evening and student tiers. We do not publish a price until the operator does, because this one changes every season.
What is tanghulu?
Fruit on a bamboo skewer dipped in molten sugar that sets to a hard shell — 冰糖葫芦. It is a northern Chinese winter thing and it only works in the cold: in a warm room the shell turns sticky within minutes. Traditionally hawthorn, which is sharp enough to stand up to the sugar. The stall we photographed inside the Ice and Snow World in December 2025 listed six varieties at 15 CNY each.
How do I get from Beijing to Harbin in winter?
By high-speed rail to Harbin West, in the four-to-five-hour range — the line runs through the winter and snow does not stop it. Flying is faster in the air but winter fog and snow cause more delays at Harbin Taiping than on the rail line.
Can I get to the ice parks by metro?
Yes, and this is recent. Metro Line 2 crosses the Songhua River and has stations called Ice and Snow World and Sun Island. It only opened in 2021; before that the crossing was the awkward part of the evening.
Sources and status
Dates and ticket prices for 2026/27 are not published yet, so this page does not state any. The previous season's dates and the reported ticket range come from trip reports and operator listings, not from an operator publication we could link — they are marked as such above. The one price on this page we can stand behind is the tanghulu board, because we photographed it.
Temperature data: Monthly temperature data, Harbin.
Changelog (1)
- 2026-09-21Page created ahead of the 2026/27 announcement. Photographs from the 2025/26 season.