Downtown Highball Festival

This festival at Ueno Park's Fountain Square has more to offer than just your standard highball with whisky and soda. There will be around 25 booths serving up drinks centred around the shitamachi-style (downtown) highball, which has whiskey and soda plus a ‘mystery extract’. Of course, if you want to take a break from the highballs, you can also opt for chu-hai sours, craft beer, wine and sake.

On the food side, you can enjoy jumbo-sized gyoza, takoyaki, burritos, cheesesteak, horumon-yaki (grilled offal), plus desserts such as candied strawberries and mango shaved ice. The festival will set the mood with a wide range of live entertainment featuring singers, DJs and traditional dance performances.

The full list of performing artists has yet to be announced for 2026. Check the event website before visiting.