The Appeal of Borofesta, Kyoto’s Music Festival

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• Music Festival Master / Editor-in-ChiefHane Keisukebeenhere
  Editor-in-chief of RAG MUSIC and in charge of music festivals. When I attended my first music festival as a freshman in college, I was captivated by its charm—“I can’t believe there’s a place this free and this fun.” I share information about wonderful music festivals every day to help grow the community of festival fans.

What is Borofesta?

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Borofesta is a music festival that has been held annually in Kyoto since 2002.

It was launched by an executive committee made up of Kyoto indie bands, live house staff, and staff from music streaming sites and online CD stores.

It was initially held at venues such as Seibu Kodo, LIVEHOUSE nano, and CLUB METRO, but since 2009 it has mainly taken place at Kyoto KBS Hall.

The Kyoto KBS Hall is especially striking for the stained glass behind the stage, and it’s breathtaking to see various bands perform live with the large, beautiful stained glass as their backdrop.

The appeal of Borofesta

From here, we will introduce the appeal of Borofesta, focusing on three key points.

D.I.Y Music Festival

The biggest characteristic of this Borofesta is that it’s a D.I.Y. music festival run entirely by the organizers and volunteer staff, without going through promoters or the like.

Despite being such a homemade DIY music festival, it has featured numerous popular artists in the past, including Akainu, Gekiga no Mary’s (Furukawa no Marys), Ken Yokoyama, BRAHMAN, the HIATUS, and 10-FEET.

Moreover, the lineup is put together without regard for fame or genre, following a style of inviting artists the organizers want to see and bring in, and I think you can glimpse the essence of a DIY music festival in that as well.

Borofesta isn’t a very large festival—drawing only about 3,000 to 4,000 attendees over three days—but around 100 volunteer staff members gather and run it driven solely by their desire to create a great festival.

A festival with mysterious powers that has made miracles happen

Borofesta, which began in 2002, is a festival with a mysterious power that has brought about all kinds of miracles.

First, the one I’d most like to introduce is the 2007 Borofesta.

An emergency arose in which the live performance on the outdoor stage for that day was canceled.

However, thanks to the timetable rearrangement, not a single artist’s performance was canceled and all the shows took place.

Borofesta 2007, made possible precisely through the cooperation of the artists, staff, and attendees, proved that it was an event imbued with the love and passion for music of all who took part.

And in the following year, 2008, it became the largest Borofesta ever, held over eight days.

By moving the venues from the traditional Seibu Auditorium to live house nano, METRO, and the Kamo River riverbed, it became a historically distinct event from previous years.

And even after that, Borofesta continues each year to take on new challenges under a variety of concepts—an event made possible precisely because it steadfastly upholds the spirit of a DIY festival.

A festival you can enjoy even at the pre-event stage

Like RUSH BALL in Osaka, Borofesta holds a pre-event ahead of the main festival.

Its name: Nanoborofesta.

It’s a circuit-style event centered around the live house nano located in Kyoto City.

The lineup is so compelling that it gives you a complete picture of Kyoto’s indie scene. It’s an event we’d love not only Kyoto live-house fans to attend, but also anyone who wants to discover Kyoto bands or plans to go to BOROFESTA.

Event Overview

Sat, Nov 1–Mon, Nov 3, 2025 Borofesta

borofesta.jp

Borofesta is held at Kyoto KBS Hall—whose stained glass behind the stage is truly striking—and at the live music venue METRO. Organized entirely as a D.I.Y. festival by an executive committee made up of people working in music, such as live house staff and band members, along with many volunteer staff, Borofesta offers a wealth of perspectives unique to a D.I.Y. festival and enjoyment you won’t find at other events.

Lastly

How was it?

Have you gotten a sense of the appeal of Borofesta, Kyoto’s D.I.Y. music festival?

Borofesta is run by people who are right in the thick of the music industry, such as band members and live house staff.

And the volunteer staff—over 100 people who gather every year—are all music lovers who want to create a great festival and hope to host their own music festivals in the future.

Precisely because this is a DIY music festival created and run by those very musicians serving on the executive committee, it can operate with its own distinctive character, and perhaps that’s why it has become an indispensable and remarkably popular event in today’s music scene, imbued with a curious kind of power.