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
Ideas for Stage Performances to Energize a School Culture Festival (1–10)
band performance
When you think of school festivals, a classic highlight has to be band performances.
For those in the light music club, and for anyone in a band, school festivals are the perfect chance to show off your playing! Most student bands might be cover bands, but performing original songs is great too.
It’s a chance to put your daily practice to the test, and it’ll definitely get your heart racing with excitement.
It’s not about being good or bad—what matters most is the experience of performing in front of people.
It becomes a valuable lesson and a lasting memory.
Jump Rope Performance
If you’re confident in your jump rope skills, why not put on a jump rope performance? A jump rope performance showcases tricks like double-unders and triple-unders to music.
They say there are thousands of tricks.
If you usually practice jump rope, try a higher-difficulty routine to wow the crowd.
It’s also great to practice with your whole class for a school or cultural festival and perform together.
There are tricks where everyone jumps in unison, moves their feet sideways while jumping, or crosses their legs.
When a large group moves in sync, it looks beautiful and makes for a fantastic performance.
wotagei
Wotagei is a type of intense dance performed while holding glowing sticks called cyalumes.
You often see it at anison (anime song) events! In bright places it might just look like people thrashing around, but if you watch it in the dark…
the light trails from the cyalumes are stunning and incredibly beautiful! Dim the venue and have a group perform, and it becomes a full-fledged show!
hero show
At most school festivals, there’s practically always a slot for stage performances.
How about putting on a classic tokusatsu “sentai” hero show that everyone—young and old—knows and loves? All you need are the performers’ courage and costumes.
For the costumes, it’s safest to stick with the familiar sentai colors like red, blue, and yellow.
Don’t let it end as just a simple hero show—sprinkle in elements unique to your school and get the audience involved, too.
When performing, the key is to forget your embarrassment and fully become the hero!
dance
A classic performance choice: dance.
Even when we say “dance,” there are so many types—group numbers and solo acts, routines with a strong comedy element, and dances meant to get laughs.
If you already dance regularly, you’ll be fine, but if you feel shy about performing in front of people, I recommend a group dance.
If you have a lot of participants, dancing to songs by idols like AKB is a great option.
Paying attention to costumes really boosts the visual impact, so go the extra mile and prepare something special!
musical
If you’re looking for stage events or shows, how about a musical? These days, many films have a musical vibe as well, and I’m sure many people remember La La Land winning the Academy Award.
When you put on a musical on stage, it draws a large crowd, so the performers are likely to enjoy it too.
fashion show
It’s also a great idea to gather people who are interested in fashion and put on a fashion show.
If you’re in junior high or high school, you probably wear uniforms most of the time.
So just wearing something different from your usual outfit can feel fresh and exciting.
I also recommend trying to make your own costumes.