Sky Lantern nights / festivals have become very popular over the last six or seven years. You can usually find a sky lantern event on every month, but winter is typically the most popular time for them. However, this summer there are also several sky lantern events planned, including the largest sky lantern event in all of Japan. The Tanabata Sky Lantern Festival will take place in Saitama’s own Saitama Stadium 2002, where they will release more than 3000 lanterns into the summer night sky. Furthermore, it’s not just lanterns. It’s a full Tanabata (Star) Festival. They will have live performances, festival food and game stalls, photo spots and you can write your tanabata wishes too. Moreover, it’s not just on one night but SEVEN nights in total. A full week of tanabata, from Friday July 17th to Thursday July 23rd 2026.
Japan’s largest sky lantern festival – Saitama Stadium
The Tanabata Sky Lantern Festival 2026 transforms the Saitama Stadium area into a glowing summer dreamscape, where more than 3,000 LED sky lanterns rise into the night like floating wishes. The event combines modern illumination with the gentle nostalgia of Tanabata, inviting visitors to write their hopes and release them into a sky filled with soft, shimmering light. With live vocals timed to the lantern release and a carefully designed layout of food stalls, photo spots, and festival games, the atmosphere feels both festive and deeply serene. The organizers emphasize comfort and safety – lanterns use LEDs instead of fire, remain tethered, and are collected afterward making it a rare large‑scale lantern event that can be enjoyed without worry.
Before the 20:30 lantern release, guests are free to wander the grounds, enjoy classic summer festival foods, try shooting games or super ball scooping, and explore Tanabata‑themed installations such as bamboo lanterns and water‑fortune areas. Limited admission keeps the venue spacious, avoiding the crowding typical of summer matsuri, and even allows late entry, making it easy to fit into a weekday evening. I have been to several sky lantern events in the last few years. It is absolutely magical and completely breathtaking when hundreds of people raise the lanterns into the sky simultaneously.
On the day you can enjoy:
- The sight of 3000+ Sky Lanterns in the night sky
- Festival food stalls
- Festival game stalls such as target shooting and ball scooping
- Live performances timed to the lanterns release
- ‘Glow of wishes’ installation
- Photo spots
- A rest area with Japanese parasols and red lined benches
- Fortunes that appear in water and then can be tied to a bamboo installation
Tickets
General admission costs start from 5200 yen per adult and from 2000 yen per child. A lantern is included with an adult ticket. They also have a ‘flexible’ ticket for one night entry but that isn’t set to a fixed date, from 6600 yen. The tickets are on sale now and the cheaper tickets are getting whipped up quickly, so please do try and book soon to get an affordable ticket. Ticket site. Please note, tickets cannot be canceled or refunded by the customer. However, if the event is canceled by the organizers, you can get a partial refund. If you buy a “anshin ticket”, a premium refundable ticket, you can get a full refund if the organizers cancel the event.
Tanabata Sky Lantern Festival Event Details
Event: Tanabata Sky Lantern Festival – the largest sky lantern event in Japan
Dates: from Friday July 17th to Thursday July 23rd 2026
Time: from 5 pm to 9 pm
Cost: from 5200 yen per adult and from 2000 yen per child. See “Ticket” paragraph above.
Venue: Daimon Reserve Pond Square, 大門上池調節池底面広場, at Saitama Stadium 2002, 埼⽟スタジアム2〇〇2, 2-1-191 Misono, Midori Ward, Saitama, 336-0967. View on Google Maps.
Access
Parking is limited. Moreover, it is expensive. Parking costs start from 3000 yen and need to be booked in advance through the ticket site, linked in the “ticket” paragraph. By public transport the stadium is about a 15-minute walk from Urawa Misono Station.
Official website. It has an option to view in English, but the English page is less detailed than the Japanese one.
More information in English about Saitama Stadium.
this sounds a little special!