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

SBI MUSIC CIRCUS HOKKAIDO is a new chapter for the urban music festival that began in Kobe in 2014 and expanded to Osaka and Fukuoka, making its Hokkaido debut in 2026. The venue is Daiwa House Premist Dome Sapporo. PART 1, starting in the evening, will feature live performances by artists across a wide range of genres centered on pop, and PART 2 will transform the dome into a one-night-only mega nightclub late into the night. Scheduled for September 2026.

SANNOHE SOUNDS SHOWER is a music event held every year on May 4 at the event stage and plaza of Sannohe Castle Ruins Shiroyama Park, a nationally designated historic site in Sannohe, Aomori Prefecture. Launched in 2017 and organized by the local group “Sakura to Suteki na Nakamatachi,” it features around 14 performing bands, along with a green market of handmade artisans, kitchen cars (food trucks), and local shops, offering music, food, and shopping for the whole family. There are also playground facilities around the plaza, making it a comfortable place for visitors with children.

A one-day-only festival held at the Shuji Terayama Memorial Hall in his hometown of Misawa, Aomori, to coincide with Shuji Terayama’s memorial day, “Shuji-ki.” Hosted by Terayama World, the event will unfold across the outdoor multipurpose space and inside the hall, featuring a reading of “Ware ni Gogatsu o” by students of Misawa Municipal Horiguchi Junior High School, the Odradek Roadside Theater by Shoichi Fukushi, a woodworking play area, the Terayama Market, and more. The finale will be a special live performance by actor Hiroshi Mikami. Scheduled for May 2026.

"HOMETOWN MUSIC LIFE" is a music event held every June in Aomori City. In 2026, it will take place over two days, Saturday, June 13 and Sunday, June 14, at the Nebuta-no-Ie Wa Rasse West Plaza in Aomori City, with free admission and held rain or shine. The lineup includes Satoru Sakamoto, and d-iZe will serve as the main host. Four acts, including WATAERFALL, who won the official audition, have also earned the right to perform and will join the event’s stage.

This is a comedy-and-music entertainment show held to celebrate the 35th anniversary of Aomori Asahi Broadcasting’s launch. Koji Abe, who has served as the face of Aomori’s Saturday mornings since 2013 as the MC of the program “Happy,” delivers a stage filled with deep affection and gratitude for Aomori’s charms and the warmth of its people, which he has come to know through the show over many years. In 2024, he invested his own funds to purchase a deteriorating hot spring facility and lovingly reopened it as “Happy Hyakuzawa Onsen.” This man full of love now proudly brings an entertainment show to the people of Aomori, scheduled for June 2026.