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. 

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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. 

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Fall 2019 Dates: Sep. 6 - 29 

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. 

Fall 2019 Date:  Sep. 1 

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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Fall 2018 Dates: ​Sep. 22 - 23

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.

2019 Dates: Apr. 21 - Nov. 30

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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Fall 2019 Dates: End Oct. - End Nov.

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 opportunities have proven to be a big hit.
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Fall 2019 Dates: Late Sep. - Early Oct.

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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Fall 2019 Dates: Oct. 26 - Nov. 24

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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Fall 2018 Dates: Oct. 8th - 10th

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.





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Fall 2018 Dates: Nov. 22nd - Dec. 25th