[2026] Guide to Music Festivals and Outdoor Events in Hokkaido and the Tohoku Region

This is an anison (anime song) festival to be held for the first time at Noboribetsu Civic Hall on June 13, 2026. The executive committee is promoting it as “an anison festival you can only experience in Noboribetsu,” aiming for an event integrated with the local community, including food trucks from the area. Three acts—Hironobu Kageyama, Masaaki Endoh, and Hiroshi Kitadani—have been confirmed to perform, promising a day to fully enjoy the voices of anison in Noboribetsu, Hokkaido.

The "Sapporo Festival" is the annual grand festival of Hokkaido Shrine. Since June 15 was designated as the festival day in 1872, it has continued as a seasonal tradition heralding the arrival of summer in Sapporo. During the festival, food stalls and dedication stages line the shrine grounds and Nakajima Park. On the procession of the 16th, led by lantern-lit festival music, more than 1,000 participants dressed in period costumes—such as Sarutahiko and the Ishin Kinno-tai—parade through the city together with nine festival floats. In 2026, the festival will be held from June 14 to 16.

“FLY HIGH fes.” is a citizen-participation, comprehensive festival held to commemorate the 100th anniversary of New Chitose Airport in Chitose City. The venue is a special stage at the Japan Aviation Academy Hokkaido New Chitose Airport Campus. Rather than simply celebrating a milestone, it is designed as a place where people of different generations and purposes can come together through music, food, the outdoors, and hands-on experiences. Performers include Tatsuya Ishii and SOIL & “PIMP” SESSIONS, and the event will take place in June 2026.

This is an outdoor music festival held at a special venue on the Central Pier in Kaigan-cho, Muroran City, Hokkaido. Organized by club RED HILL and supported by Muroran City and others, it is known as the largest outdoor reggae event in Hokkaido. Centered on reggae and hip-hop, about 25 artists gather in the port town each time, raising their passionate voices at Muroran Port together with roughly 800 fans who come from all over Japan. Numerous vendors, including food trucks, line the venue. In 2026, it will be held in June.

NEXWAVE-RUSUTSU ROCK×FOOD FES- is an outdoor festival set to be held for the first time in June 2026 in Rusutsu Village, one of Hokkaido’s premier resort destinations that welcomes about 1.3 million visitors annually. Organized by the Rusutsu Chamber of Commerce, it launches as the village’s first-ever full-scale outdoor music festival with the concept of revitalizing the local community. Centered around loud rock, electronic sounds, mixture styles, hyper metal, and Japanese rock DJs, the event will deliver a day where music and food come together amid the great outdoors with views of Mount Yotei.

“MTG ~Ma, it’s fine—just groove loosely~” is an outdoor music festival in Kōzakura Park, Minami Ward, Sapporo, that proposes a “chill lifestyle.” Born from the idea of newcomers from Tokyo and Osaka bringing a fresh breeze to Sapporo’s existing communities, it shares hints for enjoying a “chill” time for all ages amid a stressful society, through the experience of a festival. It invites everyone to relax their shoulders and start a new form of chill from Sapporo. Scheduled for July 2026.