I really love red buckwheat flowers. Although, one could argue they are pink rather than red! There are a few places you can see red buckwheat in Saitama Prefecture, but perhaps the best known area for them is in Kuki city. There is a large red buckwheat field in the city and each year they hold a festival in honor of the flowers!
Red buckwheat flowers and festival in Kuki
The red buckwheat flowers grow in the Kurihashi area of Kuki City. They are currently in bloom, but they are past their prime. According to the city, they started to bloom around October 11th with prime viewing at the end of October. However, the festival is always held in November … except during the pandemic when it was cancelled completely. The festival name is a bit of a mouthful, translating to something like: The gently thrilling Kurihashi Red buckwheat flowers festival! I just call it the red buckwheat flower festival hereafter!
The flower festival is on this coming Sunday, the 19th. It starts with an opening ceremony at 9.45 am. There are several different events on the day and various attractions. For example, they have a games corner with a jumping castle, there are emergency vehicles on display, you can try different challenges at the scouts corner, there is woodwork activities and many more. Furthermore, there will be food stalls there on the day. Moreover, there are other stalls selling such things as flowers and you can even pick up red buckwheat flower seeds. In addition, there will be traditional festival stalls with such things as goldfish scoop.
Information
Event: Kurihashi Red Buckwheat Flower Festival [The gently thrilling Kurihashi Red buckwheat flowers festival] 赤花そば栗橋やさしさときめき祭り
Date: Sunday November 19th 2023
Time: 9.45 am to 2 pm
Cost: there is no admission fee, bring some yen to enjoy festival food and games.
Venue: the festival venue is quite a bit North of the red buckwheat flower field at Kurihashi Bunka Kaikan / Civic Hall Iris, 1557 Isaka, Kuki, Saitama 349-1121. View on Google Maps.
Access
The venue (Kurihashi Civic Hall Iris) is about a 15 to 20 minute walk from Kurihashi Station on the Tohoku and Tobu Nikko Lines. There are four official parking lots for the festival. Two of them are a bit of a walk from the venue. But the Kuki City hall Kurihashi General Branch parking lot is only about a five minute walk away. And the Kuki city Society of commerce and industry Kurihashi branch parking lot is about an 8 to 10 minute walk away.