Hokkaido's Best Fall Festivals
Fall in Hokkaido is the time for harvest & foliage, so most festivals in this season are centered around sampling Hokkaido's incredible cuisine around the island while being mesmerized by the carpet of fall colors from its endless forests. 

Let us know which fall festivals you are interested in, and we'll be sure to include them in your private custom-made tour itinerary. 

Sapporo Autumn Festival

Sapporo Autumn Festival showcases the richness of food and cuisine from around Hokkaido at Odori Park, located in central Sapporo. Autumn is the harvest season, and this festival is a great opportunity to sample & enjoy Hokkaido's legendary cuisine. Through eating and drinking across 8 blocks of gourmand blcoks, you will get to know more about Hokkaido and the people who are behind it's unforgettable cuisine. 

​Annually through most of September

Furano Wine & Grape Festival

This festival is held to celebrate the grape harvest used in the production of Furano wine, one of Hokkaido's top wine brands. Visitors can sample a variety of wines and locally grown grapes, as well as food tasting from extensive menus featuring local dishes such as Furano’s famous cheese fondue. You can also participate in wine stepping: so take of your shoes, crush some grapes, and remind yourself that Hokkaido is not your usual Japan experience. 

Annually in early September

Nemuro Sanma
(Pacific Saury) Festival

At this festival, you can try one of Hokkaido's most unique fish: the fatty & locally beloved Pacific Saury called Toro Sanma (fat saury). Nemuro boasts one of the world's largest Pacific Saury caches, and visitors can grill fresh saury at communal BBQ grills, also a great way to socialize with locals. At night, the festival site is lit up with the fishing lights of off-shore saury boats as local fishermen ply the rich coastal waters.
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Annually in late September

Lake Akan Iomante Fire Festival

For the indigenous Ainu People, the traditional Iomante Fire Festival is of crucial cultural importance as dancers & musicians perform nightly in a recreation of an ancient ritual to appease the bear Gods and ask for protection. The festival is held at Lake Akan's Ainu Theater throughout the fall season. The highlight of the performances is the burning of torches accompanied by timeless and hypnotizing songs.

Annually from April to November

Hakodate Momiji Festival

Lake Notoro Red Coral Grass Festival
Japan's fall foliage season is synonymous with momiji - of Japanese Maple - whose incredible yellow and red hues bring nature-loving visitors year after year to observe the natural spectacle. In Hakodate - Hokkaido's most historical town - the momijis can be enjoyed nightly until 9 pm at the Old Iwafune Family Garden and at  Kosetsuen Park.
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Annually from late October to late November
Lake Notoro - located in far eastern Hokkaido just outside Abashiri - attracts many visitors annually as the brackish lake's coral-grass turns a vivid red. Although the coral-grass is not in a large area, the deep carpet of red and surrounding bird watching have proven to be a big hit.
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Annually from late September to early October

Autumn Festival in Tokachigawa Onsen

Celebrate the fall harvest in Tokachi, Hokkaido's agricultural heartland and Japan's largest arable plain. Visitors can sample a wide variety of cuisine, make jack-o-lanterns by hand, go star gazing, wine & cheese tasting and much more. Of course, Tokachigawa Onsen is also famous for its hot springs, so make sure to include a dip in your time there. 
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Annually from late October to late November

Lake Akan Marimo Festival

Another one of Lake Akan's unique festivlas, the Marimo Festival highlights an unusual type of moss which grows at the base of Lake Akan. The moss is not rooted to the lake bottom, and after hundreds of years of incremental growth, waves and currents, the moss forms into large balls. Lake Akan fully embraced this natural oddity and has made the humble Marimo its mascot. The festival includes Ainu song & dance, a blessing festival, fireworks, and finally the return of the chosen marimo to the lake bottom. This is a truly unique and wonderful festival. 
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Annually in early to mid October

Sapporo White Illumination

This local festival heralding the arrival of winter was established in 1981 as a way to bring locals outside in the cold early winter nights. The illumination, which has grown annually to include over a million lights across downtown Sapporo, adds a festive atmosphere and is one of Japan's best illumination festivals.

Annually from late November to late December