Information for the annual Tatara Festival (with fireworks), a popular summer festival, in Kawaguchi City. However, in 2026, the festival has been moved to Autumn – the last weekend of September. Reportedly, this is to avoid the extreme heat we have been experiencing in summer, in recent years. The festival has had many changes to its date and venue in recent years. It will, however, be on at the Kawaguchi Autorace again this year. Over the last three years, they were doing renovation work at the venue which affected capacity, but it seems most of the work has been finished now.
Tatara Festival
“Tatara” refers to the traditional bellows device used in Japanese ironmaking. As Kawaguchi City has a history of prospering as a casting (foundry) town. For the same reason, the floor of the atrium in the brand-new Kawaguchi Museum of Art is made of copper powder from Kawaguchi foundries.
The Tatara festival is the largest annual festival in Kawaguchi with over 160 festival stalls and approximately 150,000 people attending. This is one of a few festivals in Saitama that has a crowd calendar live on the day, because so many people visit!
There are stage events, a bazaar and children’s mikoshi, but the highlight of the festival is the fireworks. They were sorely missed for three years during the pandemic. But they are back since 2024 as is the nagashi-odori, kind of like synchronized dancing. The fireworks are on the Sunday (27th) only, from 7 pm to 7.30 pm.
Main Stage (Area A); Performance Schedule
August 26th (Saturday)
- 10:00–10:30, Character Show (Precure)
- 11:00–11:30, 6NE1
- 12:15–12:45, Miyabi
- 13:00–13:30, Character Show (Precure)
- 14:00–14:30, Ōmiya Napolitan
- 15:00–15:45, JOMACK
- 16:00–17:30, O’s
- 17:45–18:15, Singer Show
August 27th (Sunday)
- 10:00–10:30, Character Show (Hanakappa)
- 11:15–11:45, YKD Dance Studio
- 12:00–12:30, Rabbit Labyrinth
- 13:00–13:45, Kawaguchi Active
- 14:00–14:45, Girls Dance Jam
- 15:00–15:45, Nanamari
- 16:00–16:45, craft
- 17:00–17:45, Miyabi
- 18:00–18:30, Main Guest Stage (MC: 19 Junior & 38 LAB.05)
Zones
- Welfare Corner (ふくしコーナー)
- Recycling Corner (リサイクルコーナー)
- Children’s Toy Area (子どもおもちゃ広場)
- Food & drink stalls
- Community booths
- Main Stage
- A: Main Stage
- Food stalls
- Kids’ areas
- Activity corners
- Special booths
Event Details
Event: Tatara Festival 2026 第４６回たたら祭り
Dates: Saturday September 26th and Sunday September 27th 2026. The fireworks are on the Sunday only.
Time: from around 10 am to late at night! The fireworks are from 7 pm to 7.30 pm on the 27th.
Venue: Kawaguchi Autorace, 5 Chome-21-1 Aoki, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0031. Plus Code: RP9F+JV Kawaguchi, Saitama. On Google Maps.
Access
Free shuttle buses run between the following stations and SKIP City:
- JR Kawaguchi Station
- JR Nishi-Kawaguchi Station
- JR Warabi Station
- Saitama Rapid Railway Hatogaya Station
From SKIP City, it’s about a 10‑minute walk to the Auto Race venue.
Traffic restriction on both days, from 10 am to 9 pm.
Find even more summer festivals in Saitama Prefecture here.
The information was up to date and accurate to the best of my knowledge at the time of updating on July 2025.
wow. that is a BIG festival!