Nagaoka Fireworks Festival

About the festival

The Nagaoka Fireworks Festival is one of Japan’s most celebrated fireworks events. Held over two nights beside the Shinano River in Nagaoka, Niigata Prefecture, it is widely admired for the scale of its displays and the deep meaning behind them.

The festival is part of the wider Nagaoka Matsuri, which remembers those lost in wartime air raids, honours the city’s recovery, and expresses wishes for peace. Its best-known displays include the large-scale Phoenix fireworks, designed to spread across a wide section of the night sky, and the powerful three-shaku fireworks shells. This combination of technical spectacle and local remembrance gives Nagaoka a character that goes beyond a typical summer fireworks event.

For visitors, this is a festival to plan well in advance. Nagaoka becomes extremely busy during the event, and official viewing tickets, accommodation, and transport can sell out early. There is no nearby parking at the main viewing area, so public transport and official shuttle arrangements are generally the most practical options.

The 2026 festival is confirmed for Sunday, 2 August and Monday, 3 August, with fireworks scheduled from approximately 19:20 to 21:10 each evening.