One of Kansai’s most vibrant outdoor festivals, Koiya Matsuri celebrates the end of summer by bringing together around 70 dance teams for a weekend of high-energy dance battles. With an open-format concept, the festival showcases a wide variety of dance styles including yosakoi, hip hop and Kawachi Ondo.
At the heart of the festival are dynamic performances from dance troupes across Japan, all competing for the prestigious Koiya Grand Prize. But the event offers much more than dance.
Over at the festival's main site, which is the Fukakita Ryokuchi Park in Osaka prefecture's Daito City, you can also explore around 25 booths offering food, drinks and local goods, along with a photogenic lantern wall. There’s even a night festival happening on Saturday starting at 5.30pm, featuring more dance performances and lessons, community dance-alongs and audience participatory games.
There are fringe events taking place at various locations across Osaka prefecture on the same weekend, including the iconic Umeda Sky Building in central Osaka city.
For full details, visit the festival website.