2026 Roundup of Popular Winter Festivals: Music Festivals for the Cold Season

Editor-in-Chief, RAG MUSICHane Keisuke
Editor-in-chief of RAG MUSIC. JFC-certified fact-checker. After working in a music studio and handling wedding sound, joined the RAG MUSIC editorial team in 2016. Experienced with a variety of instruments: marching band in elementary school, clarinet in junior high school wind ensemble, and drums in a band from high school onward. Drawing on my own musical activities and the experience gained through my work, I produce daily articles, including various song introductions, features on music festivals around the country, and live reports. In music, I enjoy not only rock from Japan and abroad but, lately, a wide range of J-pop as well.

Until now, when people talked about music festivals, the standard was summer festivals held outdoors.

But lately, winter festivals held during the colder months have also become the norm.

Most winter festivals are indoor events held in large halls or exhibition centers, and even in the cold of winter, the venues are filled with excitement.

In this article, we’ll introduce a whole lineup of these hot winter music festivals!

From Christmas events and countdown events to those held right after the New Year, there’s a full schedule.

Past events

Kijimadaira SNOW LOVERSSat, 12/27 Nagano Prefecture

kijimadaira-ski.com

Schedule	Saturday, December 27, 2025
place	Nagano Prefecture, Shimotakai District, Snow Resort, “God of Romance” Ski Slope
Website	https://kijimadaira-ski.com/information/183
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Kyo Premium LiveKyoto Prefecture, Sat 12/27 – Sun 12/28

miyako-premiumlive.jp

Kyoto’s anime music festival, Kyo Premium Live. With “Kyoto-ness” as its theme, this live event features anisong singers and voice-actor artists. For anime fans, it doesn’t get more luxurious than this. If you love anime, you can’t miss it.

Schedule	Saturday–Sunday, December 27–28, 2025
place	Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City, ROHM Theatre Kyoto
Website	http://miyako-premiumlive.jp

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ayumi hamasaki COUNTDOWN LIVETue 12/30–Wed 12/31, Tokyo Metropolis

avex.jp

This is our 17th New Year’s Eve concert at Yoyogi Gymnasium, a tradition we’ve kept since 2000. Among fans, Yoyogi is called a “sacred place” and “home,” but it seems it will be unavailable for a while due to renovation work starting in 2017. This time, it looks like the performance will mark an important milestone at this special venue.

Schedule	Tue, Dec 30–Wed, Dec 31, 2025
place	First Gymnasium, Yoyogi National Stadium, Shibuya City, Tokyo
Website	https://avex.jp/ayu/news/detail.php?id=1128585
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CIRCUS×CIRCUSTue, 12/30, Osaka Prefecture

This is an outdoor hip-hop festival held at Sora no Hiroba in Maishima Sports Island, Osaka. The event has previously featured up-and-coming rappers who are gaining attention worldwide. Amid the challenge of holding the festival safely during the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, it will be conducted with attendance limited to one-third of the venue’s capacity, alongside simultaneous online live streaming. Why not join in from home and discover a new way to enjoy festivals?