Introduction to Snowball Fighting

SPORT NAME: Snowball Fighting
ALSO KNOWN AS: Yukigassen (yuki = snow and kassen = battle)
SPORT TYPE: | combat sport | snow sport | unusual sport |

Organizations

ENTITY: International Yukigassen Federation
ALSO KNOWN AS: International Snowball Battle Federation
DESCRIPTION: governs the sport of snowball fighting world wide
WEB SITE URL: yukigassen-intl.com | Link
FORMER WEB SITE URL: yukigassen-intl.jpn.com (offline) | 2016 archive |
ARTICLE: yukigassen-intl.com - history - birth of a new sport

ENTITY: Japan Yukigassen Federation
ALSO KNOWN AS: Japanese Snowball Battle Federation
DESCRIPTION: develops and supports snowball fighting as a sport
ESTABLISHED: May 26, 1993
WEB SITE URL jyf.or.jp |
ARTICLES:
jyf.or.jp - yukigasen: from winter play to official sport
- wikipedia.org - yukigasen - article

ENTITY: Finland Yukigassen Federation
ALSO KNOWN AS: Finnish Snowball Battle Federation
DESCRIPTION: governing body for snowball battles in Finland
WEB SITE URL: yukigassen.fi | Link |
BLOG: yukigassenfinlandinenglish.blogspot.com | Link |

ENTITY: Washington DC Snowball Fight Association
ESTABLISHED: 2010
DESCRIPTION: organizes U.S. snowball fights in and near Washington DC
WEB SITE: dcsfa.org (offline) forewards to linktr.ee/dcsfa
SOCIAL MEDIA: | Facebook | Instagram |
ANNUAL SNOWBALL FIGHT
- First Held: February of 2010
- 15th Edition: "Great Meridian Chill Battle of 2025"
- nbcwashington.com -15th anniversary dc snowball fight in 2025
- wjla.com -15th anniversary dc snowball fight in 2025

Events

EVENT: World Snow Battle Championship
ALSO KNOWN AS: Yukigassen World Championships
ALSO KNOWN AS: Showa-Shinzan International Yukigassen
TYPICALLY HELD: Late February
DESCRIPTION: world championships of snowball fighting
TYPICALLY HELD: Late February
HOST: Yukigassen Federation of Japan
WEB SITE URL: yukigassen.jp | Link |
SOCIAL MEDIA: Facebook Page
LOCATION: Sōbetsu, Hokkaido, Japan
EDITIONS:
- 34th: 2023 February 25-26
- 33rd: cancelled due to covid
- 32nd: cancelled due to covid
- 17th: 2006 February 26-27

EVENT: European Snow Battle Championship
ALSO KNOWN AS: European Yukigassen Championship
HOST: Yukigassen Federation of Finland
LOCATION: City of Kemijärvi, Eastern Lapland, Finland
EDITIONS:
- 23rd: 2018 April 6-8 | arcticfinland.fi |

EVENT: Nordic YukigassenChampionship
DESCRIPTION: annual snowball fight and festival in Norway
FIRST HELD: 1997
LOCATION: Vardø Town, Finnmark County, Northern Norway
WEB SITE URL: yukigassen.no | Link |
SOCIAL MEDIA: | Facebook | Instagram |
EDITIONS:
- 25th: 2025 March 13-16
- 24th: 2020 March 11-15 | scanmagazine.co.uk |
- 23rd: 2019 March
- 19th: March 18-22 | norwegianamerican.com |
- Inaugural: 1997
RESOURCES
- sofn.com - blog - norway's wacky winter sport
- yukigassen.no - picture gallery

EVENT: Last One Standing Snow Fight Tournament
DESCRIPTION: type of snowball fight: players are eliminated when hit by a snowball
WEB SITE URL: lastonestanding.ch (offline) | 2007 | 2009 | 2019 | 2024

EVENT: Snowball Fighting Championships in Austria (Future)
LOCATION: Filzmoos, Salzburgerland, Austria
ARTICLE:
neuepost.com - yukigassen - championship in filzmoos

EVENT: 1st East Asia Yukigassen Championship
DATE: January 29, 2005

References

- cbc.ca - snowball-= fighting is now an international sport
- web-japan.org - kids web japan - snowball fights
- wikipedia.org - snowball fight - article
- commons.wikimedia.org - snowball fight - images category
- niksula.hut.fi – rules for a snowball fight | 2007 archive |