Held on 2–3 November since 1949, Ohara Matsuri is Kagoshima's signature cultural festival and one of Japan's great participatory dance events. More than 20,000 performers representing businesses, schools, and community groups dance in unison to the traditional Ohara-bushi and Oosumo-bushi folk songs along the 500-metre Izuro Streetcar Boulevard. Sakurajima volcano looms across the bay as a dramatic backdrop, making this a quintessentially Kagoshima spectacle.
- Type
- Festival
- Category
- Matsuri
- Season
- Autumn
- Month
- Early November
- Region
- Kyushu
- Prefecture
- Kagoshima
- City
- Kagoshima
Highlights
- ◆20,000+ dancers parading in traditional Kagoshima costume
- ◆Ohara-bushi folk song performed and danced simultaneously
- ◆Iconic backdrop of active Sakurajima volcano across the bay
- ◆Mass participation event where visitors can often join in
- ◆Street food stalls and sake stations along the route