The Toda City Illumination event “Toda Illumi” is relatively new, it only started in 2019. (There are also other illumination events in Toda City which have been around for longer). The city aim to make illumination synonymous with winter in Toda, that become a winter tradition. According to Toda City, last year’s winter illumination was the biggest to date and they hope to keep growing the illumination with the cooperation of many people.
Featured image at the top of the post from No-longer-here on Pixabay.
Toda Illumi
The Toda Illumination event is called “Toda Illumi”. There is illumination in three different locations for the annual “Toda Illumi”. The start of the illumination is staggered, but the end date is the same for all: February 29th 2024.
Ushiroya Park Toda City
The display at Ushiroya Park will be the first to start. Ushiroya Park is a local greenery park for citizens, near Toda City Hall. It is possibly best known for its cherry blossoms, but truthfully, I am not particularly familiar with this park. They have an illumination “gate” and there are also photo spots in the park. The city switch the illumination on on Sunday November 26th. There is a switch on event from 3.30 pm to 8 pm with music, dance and food trucks. Switch on event official webpage.
From December until the end of the period of the illumination there will be a Toda Illumi market at Ushiroya Park on the second and fourth Saturday of the month. In December that is December 9th and 23rd. There will be food vans (kitchen cars) in the park for the occasion. The market starts at 4 pm and ends at 8 pm.
Toda City Funsui Park
The second display to get switched on is at Funsui Park. Funsui Park is located close to the south of JR Kita-Toda Station. The illumination starts on the first Sunday of December which in 2023 is December 3rd. They will have a small switch on ceremony on that first night.
Toda station
In addition, there is a third location at the flower display in front of Toda Station. That starts on the second of Sunday, which in 2023 is December 10th.
Information
Event: Toda Illumi (illumination) 戸田イルミ
Dates: November 26th 2023 to February 29th 2024. (Start dates differ by location, please see the main text for specifics)
Time: 5 to 10 pm
Cost: there is no admission fee
Venues: Ushiroya Park, Funsui Park, Toda station.
Official website. Which thankfully is now a full website, unlike last year when it was just an one page site.
19 other places for illumination in Saitama Prefecture, near Tokyo.
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