The 49th Kobe Festival will take place on Sunday May 19th. It’s a multi-cultural festival of dances, music, street performances and food stalls with the highlight being the main parade featuring 80 groups of floats and costumes.
Kobe Festival Main Parade
The Parade starts at the south end of Flower Road in front of Higashi Yuenchi Park and runs north turning left at Kobe International House into Sannomiya Chuo Dori.
There are 4 main performance spots on the route. Although there are plenty of viewing points along the roads there will also be large crowds so get in early to secure the best spots. The parade starts at 12:30 and runs until 4:30pm.
The Kobe Festival parade is a lively colourful event that can be enjoyed by all.
More Then The Parade
Many streets south of Sannomiya Station running east until Motomachi Station and down towards Daimaru department store will be blocked off to traffic with performances, markets and food stalls on throughout the day.
There are over 10 stages and performance streets including the special Samba Street. You can also catch musical acts and dances in Harborland.
On Saturday 18th each ward across Kobe will also have their own festival.
Most events start at 11am.
Photos from Kobe Festival 2018.
Visit the main Kobe Festival Website for schedule of events and all the latest information. (Japanese)