culture & tradition · Japan
Gion Matsuri
祇園祭
The short answer
Gion Matsuri is the festival of Yasaka Shrine and runs through the whole of July in central Kyoto. Its main events are two processions of yamahoko floats and the Yoiyama evenings before each of them.
Where
Kyoto
Country
Japan
When
annual, 1-31 July (float processions on 17 and 24 July)
Last held
2026-07-01 to 2026-07-31
Next edition
2027-07-01 to 2027-07-31
Next dates are
calendar
Organiser
Yasaka Shrine; float processions by the Gion Matsuri Yamahoko Rengokai
Good to know
Fixed dates: Saki Matsuri procession on 17 July (23 floats, from 9:00) and Ato Matsuri procession on 24 July (11 floats, from 9:30); Yoiyama evenings on 14-16 July and 21-23 July. Street viewing is free and paid seats are sold for the processions. The organiser's own site (gionmatsuri.or.jp) could not be opened (expired certificate), so the Kyoto City Tourism Association page is given as the URL. The organiser names come from general knowledge of the festival and were not confirmed on a fetched official page. No official visitor count was found.
Kungfucius says: A month-long festival, because Kyoto does not rush things.
Official website ↗