Hiroshima Flower Festival

Overview

The Hiroshima Flower Festival is held each year from May 3 to 5, with its main venues along Peace Boulevard and around the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture. Affectionately known as "FF" or "Flower," it draws over 1.6 million visitors annually. Alongside events such as Hakata Dontaku, it is among the largest of Japan's festivals held during the Golden Week holidays.

History and Origins

The spark came in 1975, with the parade celebrating the Hiroshima Toyo Carp's first Central League championship along Peace Boulevard. The astonishing turnout of 300,000 people for that time became the seed; the Chugoku Shimbun newspaper, which had already been planning a new festival using the Peace Boulevard area, took the lead and, after negotiations with the chamber of commerce and the city, held the first festival in 1977. The inaugural event was a great success, gathering 1.25 million people over three days, and it was held every year through 2019.

In 2020 it was canceled for the first time since its inception due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021 it was held on a reduced scale without a parade. In 2023, as the G7 Hiroshima Summit was held in the city, the schedule was moved to two days in June out of consideration for security, and the suspended parade revived. Since its inception the festival has carried three themes—"Make Hiroshima a city overflowing with flowers, greenery, and music," "Share the wonder of living in peace," and "Call out from Hiroshima to the world for rich exchange"—reflecting a wish for peace unique to the atomic-bombed city.

Highlights

The greatest highlight is the "Grand Flower Parade" along Peace Boulevard on May 3. At 11 a.m. the "Flower Tower" in the Peace Memorial Park is lit to open the festival, and flower floats, citizen groups, and companies unfold a parade. From 2008 a paper-crane mikoshi procession joined as well. On May 5 the "Kinsai YOSAKOI" (from 2025 a "Performance Parade" adding dance and marching bands) is held, with dancers holding naruko clappers coloring the boulevard. About 30 stages named after flowers line Peace Boulevard, where famous singers and guests perform. The official theme song "Hanaguruma" (composed by Kei Ogura) is customarily sung at the opening ceremony.

Event Information & Access

It is normally held over three days from May 3 to 5. The main venues are Peace Boulevard and the area around the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima City, with cooperating venues set up across the city. The nearest stops are the Chuden-mae, Fukuromachi, and Hijiyamashita stations of the Hiroshima Electric Railway. During the festival, wrapped streetcars of the Hiroshima Electric Railway also run. Peace Boulevard becomes a pedestrian zone during parade hours.

Around the Venue

The main venue, the Peace Memorial Park, contains the Atomic Bomb Dome (World Heritage) and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, allowing visitors to combine the festival with sites of peace education. Hiroshima City also has Hiroshima Castle and Mazda Stadium (home of the Hiroshima Toyo Carp), and Carp-related booths and talk shows are customary at the festival. A short trip away is the World Heritage Itsukushima Shrine (Miyajima), making it easy to combine with Golden Week sightseeing in Hiroshima.

Related Information

• Month: May 3-5 (spring, Golden Week)
• Prefecture: Hiroshima (Chugoku)
• Venue: Peace Boulevard and around the Peace Memorial Park (Hiroshima City)
• First held: 1977
• Attendance: Over 1.6 million annually (about 1.81 million in 2024)

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