🏮 Kawagoe Matsuri

川越まつり

Kawagoe, Saitama (Hikawa Shrine) · Every year on the 3rd Saturday of October

Traditional performing artsFood stallsFloats

33 days to go
Rooms around Kawagoe, Saitama fill up while the festival is on.

The Kawagoe Festival is held every year in mid-October in Kawagoe City, Saitama Prefecture. It is a historic, citizen-participation festival that has continued for about 370 years. It has been designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan, and in 2016 it was registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Red and white curtains are hung in the central shopping district of autumn's Koedo Kawagoe, and as the largest event of the year it attracts many people. Influenced by the style of Edo festivals but said to have developed in its own way, the sight of the historic townscape interwoven with yamaboko (festival floats) has been called "a precious scene of Edo lost to war damage." The highlight is the procession of gorgeous, splendid yamaboko owned by each neighborhood association in the city, displaying ohayashi (festival music) and dancing as they parade. Particularly when floats meet in the "Hikkawase," the competition of ohayashi and dancing, along with the vigorous shouts of the young men, enlivens the festival. The beautiful costumes of the tekomai and pullers, and the many food stalls, create a nostalgic atmosphere.

Getting there

During the Kawagoe Festival, traffic restrictions are in place in the central shopping district, so the use of public transportation is recommended. Temporary parking lots are set up in the surrounding area, but traffic congestion is expected.