Moominvalley Park Harvest 2021 in the Moomin theme park at Metsa, Hanno, Saitama. This year it is called “Very Berry Harvest”. The featured image above is from the official Moomin Japan website. Update November 2021: due to its popularity, the Harvest “Balloon Sky” event has been extended until November 28th.
Moominvalley Park Harvest 2021
Last year, 2020, was the inaugural Harvest event at Moominvalley park. I donned it a balloon sky, as the berry displays are made from balloons. This year I see they have adopted the term. They also added a tagline of “Very Berry Harvest” to the event name.
From Umbrella Sky to Balloon Sky!
The Umbrella sky at Metsa needs little introduction. Despite being only three years old it enjoys much fame and admiration. As the largest umbrella sky in Japan it attracts visitors from far and wide. So Metsa is looking to the skies again to bring people into the park.
Balloon Sky
In 2020 about 3,600 balloons were used to create a Harvest scene. However, in 2021 the press release suggests it will be a smaller display of 1200 balloons. An image of berries hanging is created by the balloons casting colorful shadows on the footpath below. Last year the design was by textile designer Masaru Suzuki, using the design of marimekko, which was born in Finland. That level of information was not provided this year, but presumably it is modeled on last year. The berries also feature in the daily stage show “Free and Happy Life”.
Harvest balloon sky at Moominvalley Park scheduled again for 2021 2020 display
During the period of the event there are limited edition “harvest” goods on sale. Also, they will have special themed workshops.
Instagram Competition
From November 4th photos uploaded to Instagram with the tag #ハーベストフォトコン2021 will be considered for the Harvest Instagram competition.
Information
Dates and concurrent events
The Moominvalley Park Harvest Balloon Sky will start on Saturday September 4th and run until Sunday October 24th Sunday November 28th. It was extended due to its popularity. Last year, during the period Metsa also hosted the Hanno Green Carnival for the first time ever. (For years it was at the Tove Jansson Akebono Children’s Forest). It is not yet known if the Hanno Green Carnival will be on again this year. Moreover, which location it will be on if it does go ahead. Also, last year there was a very popular fireworks event on during the “Harvest” event. And they were actually scheduled for 2021, but subsequently the fireworks were cancelled on account of the Coronavirus.
The Metsa Village Christmas starts on October 30th. However, this year the winter events at Moominvalley park won’t start until December 10th. Because…
Temporary closure announcement
Moominvalley park (the part you pay into) is temporarily closing from November 29th to December 9th. The closure is for upgrades to the park. During this period Metsa Village (the free part) will be open as normal.
You can check for the most up to date information on the official website. Last check by Insaitama was November 5th 2021. And here is the Official event web page
Hours and Cost
Hours: Both Moominvalley park and Moomin are open shorter hours since the Coronavirus outbreak curtailment measures were introduced in spring. It keeps changing depending on the situation with the pandemic. But generally, the latest it closes at the moment is 8 pm.
Cost: The event itself is “free”, but you do have to pay into the Moominvalley Park area. The price doubled in 2020. It now costs 2500 yen for adults on the day, 2300 for tickets bought in advance. Children costs are 1,500 yen on the day, 1,300 yen in advance. They now have a one day pass, which is 4200 yen on the day for adults, 4000 yen if bought in advance. For children it costs 2300 yen on the day and 2100 yen when bought online in advance. Please note there are times depending on the situation with Coronavirus that you may need to book rides in advance too.
Access
By car: about 10 minutes from the Sayama Hidaka Interchange of the Ken-o expressway. Parking has thankfully been reduced significantly since last year. The car park is now free on weekdays and 500 yen per hour on the weekends. However, there is a 1500 yen maximum charge on weekends. Also, if you spend more than 5000 yen at Metsa Village you can get your parking validated.
By public transport: Buses go from Seibu Ikebukuro Line’s Hanno Station or from JR Hachiko Line’s Higashi Hanno station. On foot it takes about 35 minutes to the park. Please note, there have been changes to the buses availability at different periods during the pandemic. Please always check the official sources for the most up-to-date information.
Metsa is a Finnish theme park based on the characters of Moomin. The Metsa Village area opened late last year and the park was finalized in spring of this year with the opening of Moomin Valley Park.
Check out the free “Moomin Valley” nearby in the Tove Jansson Akebono Children’s Forest.
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