The Kawagoe Festival is on this weekend

The Kawagoe Festival, the largest and best annual event in Kawagoe, is on this Saturday and Sunday, October 18th and 19th 2025. I have personally attended this festival at least a dozen times and if I were in Japan I'd be there this weekend too. It is an excellent festival with many different parts, that spreads all the way from Hon-Kawagoe station to Kawagoe Hikawa Shrine.

On both Saturday and Sunday the festival base hours are from 1 pm to around 7 pm. However, the "festival villages" where you can buy food and drink and play festival games are open until 9 pm. Moreover, in 2024 the festival floats kept going until 10 pm! The festival has a different feel by day and by night. The "hikkawase" is one of the highlights, where the floats dressed with lanterns have a 'fight off' to music. You can see a reel of it on this City-cost post here. And a photo gallery of the 2024 festival here.

The atmosphere in Kawagoe is electric during the two days. Yes, it is busy, but if you wander off down some of the side streets, you will find there is still a festive atmosphere, but slightly less people! I am not one for crowds, but every year I embrace them at the Kawagoe Festival. It really is a festival worth going to. If you would like even more information, you can find even more details here. Have you ever been to the Kawagoe Festival?