Stage performance ideas to excite a cultural or school festival
When it comes to school festivals, one of the biggest highlights—beyond all the food stalls and games—is the live shows and performances on stage! Instrumental music, singing, dancing, theater, juggling, and more…
The festival stage is the perfect place to showcase activities you’ve been practicing regularly.
And since it’s a special occasion, you might be thinking, “I want to practice something new and show it off!” For those of you who feel that way, here are plenty of recommended show ideas for your school festival! Show a different side of yourself and help make the festival even more exciting!
- Ideas for stage events and attractions that will liven up a school festival
- Cultural Festival: Ranking of Popular Booth Ideas
- [For High School Students] A roundup of recommended attractions for the school festival
- Recommended plays for a high school cultural festival: popular, crowd-pleasing ideas
- [Middle School] Cultural Festival Attractions: A roundup of popular exhibits, games, and stage performances
- A roundup of recreational activities to liven up cultural and school festivals
- Magic that excites crowds at cultural and school festivals
- A show-stopping party trick that energizes the crowd at a school cultural festival
- [Non-food] Cultural festival attractions: from classroom exhibits to stage events
- Costume and cosplay ideas to heat up your school cultural festival
- [By Genre] Cultural Festival / School Festival Booth Catalog [2026]
- Ideas for exhibits recommended for school culture festivals. Film screenings, too.
- Recommended Plays and Musicals for Cultural Festivals, School Festivals, and School Performances
Stage performance ideas to excite a school culture festival (11–20)
projection mapping
Projection mapping is the technique of using projectors to display various images onto buildings and other surfaces.
This show is perfect for the opening or closing of a school festival! It does require technical skills, but since projectors and software have become more affordable lately, why not give it a try?
theater
When you want to do something together as a whole class, a play is perfect.
A play is a drama performed on stage.
You can prepare an original story or base it on an anime or a movie—pick a story you like and practice it.
Some people may not feel comfortable getting up on stage.
In that case, they can take charge of lighting, costumes, or sound.
Discuss and assign roles so everyone can join in and have fun.
It’s also recommended to combine it with instrumental performance or choral singing.
ShōtenNEW!
Are you familiar with the TV show “Shoten”? In it, the performers do a comic wordplay segment (ōgiri) based on a theme, competing to earn zabuton cushions.
If you’re thinking of adding humor to a send-off event, how about choosing a school-related theme and performing Shoten? Shoten is done with a host and performers.
You could even ask a teacher to serve as the host who runs the show.
Since everyone on Shoten wears kimono, you could make similar costumes using colored plastic bags.
If people know Shoten, they’ll understand what you’re doing right away!
chorus
Choral singing—hasn’t everyone done it at least once? In elementary and junior high school, there are events like school arts festivals, presentations, and choir competitions.
People with higher and lower voices are split into groups, and you sing different parts like alto and soprano.
Layering those parts creates the beautiful harmony that is choral music.
In elementary school, you often sing standard choir pieces, but for a cultural festival, J-pop is also a great choice.
Talk it over with everyone, pick a song you like, and give it a try.
shadow puppet play
A shadow play is, literally, a theatrical performance that uses shadow puppetry.
However, the term “shadow play” encompasses a variety of methods.
Some productions project paper puppets using an overhead projector, while others combine conventional theater with shadow performance by using a screen and projector.
The puppets themselves can range from simple cutouts made of paper to articulated figures whose arms and legs move using chopsticks or wire.
Be sure to explore different styles of shadow plays for inspiration before you get started.
Independent film screening
Live performances like plays and musicals are, of course, great, but how about making a film for the school festival? Since you can create it in advance, it will reduce the workload on the day.
If you choose a school-related theme, I think people will enjoy it even more.
Stage performance ideas that excite at school festivals (21–30)
balloon art
How about trying balloon art, the kind you often see in street performances? When you watch it, they whip things up so smoothly and effortlessly, don’t they? If I tried it myself, I’d probably be nervous the whole time, worrying the balloons might pop (lol).
With a bit of creativity, you can make all sorts of things—bows, dogs, bears, swords, flowers, and more.
Try changing the balloon colors and create a grand masterpiece! Making pieces you can wrap around your arm or head and walking around the school with them would give it a fun, festival-like vibe, too.