Chichibu Night Festival

The Chichibu Night Festival is the annual festival of Chichibu Shrine in Chichibu, Saitama Prefecture, held every December 2nd and 3rd. It is a magnificent and ornate winter celebration counted, alongside Kyoto's Gion Festival and Hida's Takayama Festival, as one of Japan's "three great float festivals." With over 300 years of history, it is nationally renowned as a festival coloring the December night sky.

The stars of the festival are six floats—two kasaboko and four yatai—adorned with intricate carvings and lavish decorations. The greatest highlight is the "Dangozaka pull-up" performed on the night of the 3rd. Several hundred pullers haul the gigantic floats, weighing up to 20 tons, up the steep Dango Slope in one go, to the chant of "hōryai, hōryai." This spirited spectacle brings the crowd's excitement to its peak.

Furthermore, as the floats that have crested the Dango Slope assemble at the festival ground, around 7,000 fireworks are launched into the clear winter night sky. The scene woven by winter fireworks and the splendid floats adorned with lanterns is truly dreamlike. The Chichibu Night Festival was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan in 1962, and in 2016 registered as part of the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage "Yama, Hoko, Yatai float festivals in Japan." Setting Chichibu's winter ablaze, this festival conveys the spirit of the people of Chichibu, who prospered through silk weaving, and ranks among the representative winter festivals of Japan.