Akita Kanto Festival 2026 (August 3–6): Which Night to Go — Tickets, Food Stalls, Drone Show

The Akita Kanto Festival (秋田竿燈まつり) runs four days, August 3 (Mon) to August 6 (Thu), 2026, in Akita, up in northern Japan's Tōhoku region. The largest pole, the ōwaka, stands 12m (about 39ft) and weighs 50kg (110lb).

It carries 46 paper lanterns meant to look like ears of rice, and a single performer balances the whole thing on their forehead or hip. About 280 poles of all sizes go up along Kanto Ōdōri each night, roughly 10,000 lanterns in total.

But what happens changes from day to day. The daytime competition skips opening day. The drone show runs only on August 3 and 6, and it's staged somewhere else entirely — and the food stalls the organizers list aren't on Kanto Ōdōri either.

Online sales for paid seats close July 25 (Sat) at 23:59. As I write this on July 16, S seats are sold out for all four nights. What's left is mostly B seats.

For how August 3 to 6 fits into the wider summer, see A Guide to Japanese Summer Festivals (Matsuri) in 2026: Food Stalls, Yukata, Etiquette, and Where to Go.

The festival at a glance

Official site:

The evening schedule isn't the same every night

The main event is the evening performance on Kanto Ōdōri. August 3 and 6 run on one timetable; August 4 and 5 run on another.

After the performance there's a slot called Fureai Kanto. The organizers list the name and the time but don't say what it involves.

The start shifts by ten minutes depending on the night, so if you show up at 20:35 on the 3rd or the 6th, it's already over.

The organizers publish this as the "2026 Festival Schedule (planned)," and their leaflet adds that all times are approximate.

Official schedule:

The drone show is only on August 3 and 6, and not on Kanto Ōdōri

The drone show is new for 2026, and it's the part of this festival most likely to trip you up. It runs 20:35 to 20:50 on August 3 and 6 only. There's none on the 4th or the 5th.

On the official area map, the "Kanto Drone Show Venue" sits in the Yabase Sports Park area (八橋運動公園), at Space Project Dream Field (Yabase Ground No. 2). That's a different place from the main venue on Kanto Ōdōri, and the organizers don't say where you're supposed to watch it from.

The timing is the real problem. On August 3 and 6, Fureai Kanto ends at 20:35 and the drone show starts at 20:35. The organizers give no travel time and no route from Kanto Ōdōri to Yabase, so don't build your evening around seeing both.

Official area map (PDF):

The daytime competition doesn't run on August 3

Poles go up in daylight too, at the Kanto Myōgi Taikai — a skills competition judged in six categories, covering both the pole handlers and the hayashi musicians on drums and flutes behind them. In daylight the technique is far easier to read than it is after dark. It doesn't run on opening day.

The venue is Area Nakaichi Nigiwai Hiroba (エリアなかいち にぎわい広場), which the organizers describe as about a ten-minute walk from Akita Station. In rain it moves to CNA Arena Akita (CNAアリーナ★あきた), the municipal gymnasium.

At the same venue you can try lifting a yōwaka or a miniature pole. Spots go to the first 100 people.

Sessions run 12:00–13:00 on August 4 and 5, and 11:50–12:50 on August 6. There's none on August 3 either. Sign up at the daytime HQ desk at the venue, which opens an hour before each session.

Official event listing:

Paid seats: sales close July 25

Seats and prices

Most of the seating sits on the median strip of Kanto Ōdōri, along an 800-meter stretch. Where there's no median — at intersections, for instance — they use bench seating instead. Seats face the road, back to back, and everything is reserved.

Adults and children pay the same price, and infants who don't need a seat are free.

There are only 14 masu boxes a night. Reservations already closed, so the organizers are just taking names now, first come, first served, in case a cancellation frees one up.

The B seats still available are bench seats. When the organizers say nobody's head will block your view, they're talking about the tiered seating — and B seats aren't tiered.

Buying, and the deadline

Online you pay ¥220 in system fees and ¥99 for the e-ticket on top of the seat price, plus another ¥220 if you pay at a convenience store (an option only if you're already in Japan). Sales close July 25 (Sat) at 23:59, and your seat number appears on August 2 at noon.

As of July 16, 2026, S seats are sold out for all four nights. What remains is B seats on all four nights, and A seats on August 3 only. Stock moves daily, so check the sales page for the current picture.

Can you watch for free from the roadside? Is saving a spot allowed? No one answers either question — not the executive committee, not Akita City, not the prefectural police. The one free option the organizers do describe is Modori Kanto, below.

Worth knowing before you buy

The official seating map states plainly that there are no refunds even if a night is canceled for rain. It also warns that poles can fall in the wind, and to watch accordingly.

You may eat and drink in your seat, but take your trash with you. Pets aren't allowed. Wheelchair spaces have to be booked through the seating reservation center (018-866-9977) in person, by phone, or by fax.

Official seating info:

Official notice for the premium masu plan:

Book the Akita Kanto Festival Private Tour (with S-seat) here→

The food stalls the organizers list are in three spots nearby (August 2–6)

The ones on the official list aren't on Kanto Ōdōri itself but in three spots around it. They open on August 2 or August 3, and all three run through August 6.

Only the City Hall site opens on August 2. The central site starts on August 3, so there's nothing there on the 2nd.

From August 3 to 6 all three open at 15:00, which gives you hours before the poles go up. The Gotōchi Gourmet Festival is a separate event run by the Akita Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with 36 stalls (planned) serving food from around the prefecture.

For August 3–6, neither the official site nor the area map mentions stalls on Kanto Ōdōri itself. That isn't the same as saying there are none — it just isn't documented. If you're there to eat, head to the three spots above.

Modori Kanto, after the main event ends

Once the evening performance finishes, each neighborhood carries its poles back to its own streets and raises them again. The organizers call this Modori Kanto.

They say most of the 38 neighborhood kanto end up in the Ōmachi district on either side of Kanto Ōdōri, and that it has a different feel from the main event. But they publish no start time, no end time, and no list of which neighborhoods take part.

So don't build a schedule around it. Finish the main event, listen for the drums down a side street, and follow them.

If it rains

For the evening performance, the organizers say they'll shorten it if the weather demands, perform during breaks in the rain, and, in principle, not cancel at all. They publish no policy on postponement.

The daytime competition moves to CNA Arena Akita, with the call announced on the front page of the official site that day. And as noted above, a rainout doesn't get you a refund.

The organizers publish no rain or wind policy for the drone show.

Getting around during the festival

On each day from August 3 to 6, the roads around Kanto Ōdōri close from 18:15 to 21:30.

You can still cross the street during the closure, but only at set moments. Between performances, the organizers open five intersections inside the venue to pedestrians — twice, five minutes each time. Try to cross mid-performance and you'll be waiting for one of those two windows.

Akita in August is hot, and you'll be standing around a long time before the evening starts. For dealing with the heat, see Surviving Japan's Summer Heat (2026): Beat the Heat, Avoid Heatstroke & Where to Buy Cooling Gear.

Akita by train, and the festivals next door

Akita Station is served by the Akita Shinkansen Komachi, which runs through from Tokyo via Morioka.

Kanto's four days overlap almost entirely with the Aomori Nebuta Festival (August 2–7 every year), and the Sendai Tanabata Festival (August 6–8 every year) starts on Kanto's last day.

Akita Shinkansen route map (JR East): https://www.jreast.co.jp/multi/routemaps/akitashinkansen.html