The Otaru Snow Gleaming Festival as the name suggests is held in a small town called Otaru, about 30 kms from Sapporo. This festival is held concurrently with the more famous Sapporo Snow Festival. Despite the reknown of the larger Sapporo Snow Festival, the Otaru festival offers a much more magical experience with thousands of lanterns dotted around Otaru.

While it may be over for another year, New Year's Eve is spectacular in Sydney. If you are thinking of a holiday then Christmas and New Year in Sydney is perfect. The weather is warm, Bondi Beach as seen in Chris' post below is a 15 minute excursion from the middle of the city and you will be treated to a Harbour spectacle that is unrivalled. Fireworks are amazing, people are generally well behaved, and quite simply, it's a blast!

This seaside suburb of Sydney is the setting of the annual Sculpture by the Sea exhibition. This image was produced by combining eight exposures of this scene.