[Sapporo August Festival 2025] Two days of Bon Odori dancing with live music! Held from July 25th (Fri) to 26th (Sat) at Akapla, Kita 3-jo Square in Sapporo!

The Sapporo August Festival was born in 2015 as a new festival in the Sapporo Ekimae-dori area. This year, it will be held at Akapla, Kita 3-jo Plaza in Sapporo!

On July 25th (Friday) and 26th (Saturday), people will come after work in their suits or with their families to change into yukata robes and join in the Bon Odori dance to the live music of the Sapporo August Festival Special Big Band.

In addition to the original Bon Odori dance "Sapporo August Festival Ondo," we will be dancing various Bon Odori dances to live music! We will also be holding an improvisation orchestra made up of members from the general public, "Orchestra SAPPORO!"

This year's Sapporo August Festival is packed with attractions, so please invite your friends and come along.

Sapporo August Festival 2025 Performers

The "Sapporo August Festival Special Big Band" is a band selected and organized with the desire to invite local artists to perform.

Founded by Otomo Yoshihide, this band is made up of artists who usually work individually but come together once a year just for the August Festival to perform. This year, the new lineup of leader Yoshida Nonoko and MC Mayunkiki will liven up the August Festival!

Let's all dance together "Bon Odori at Kita 3-jo Square!"

The main event of the August Festival is a Bon Odori dance accompanied by live music from the Sapporo August Festival Special Big Band!

Whether you're a professional or an amateur, you can be a part of the "Orchestra SAPPORO!"

Bring something that makes a sound, and under the direction of musician Yoshihide Otomo, you can create an improvisational orchestra! The sound doesn't have to be an instrument. No performance experience required! Learn the simple rules and play on the spot. Play with whatever you like!

Not just Bon Odori! An impromptu "live session"!

The "Exciting Food Truck & Drink Corner" will liven up the festival!

Shops that boast delicious food will liven up the festival! Enjoy drinks, sweets, and more along with the festival.

Add some excitement to the underground! "Chi-Ka-Ho Venue"

About the Sapporo August Festival

[About the Birth of the Sapporo August Festival]
In August 2011, a live concert and art event called "Festival FUKUSHIMA!" was held at Shiki no Sato in Fukushima Prefecture. This was one of the earthquake recovery efforts of "Project FUKUSHIMA!" , which was started by artists from Fukushima, including Otomo Yoshihide, to spread a positive message about "FUKUSHIMA." To hold the event, several furoshiki cloths made of pieces of cloth tied together that had been collected from all over the country were spread out, with the hope of preventing the spread of radiation that had spread as a result of the earthquake from the air. This is the origin of the current "big furoshiki." The singing and dancing that was performed on the big furoshiki encouraged the people of Fukushima, and was broadcast nationwide as part of the activities of "Project FUKUSHIMA!"

After that, the giant furoshiki was not limited to Fukushima; it was also spread out in Sapporo during the "Bon Odori Dance at Kita 3-jo Square" event, one of the events of the "Sapporo International Art Festival 2014," and unveiled to the citizens of Sapporo.

Since 2015, the Sapporo Ekimae-dori District Revitalization Committee, which is made up of businesses in the Sapporo Ekimae-dori district, has been carrying on the Bon Odori dance and furoshiki as the "Sapporo August Festival," which takes place over two days every year from late July to early August on a Friday and Saturday. The colorful furoshiki is made by many people, so it has been passed down to this day as a symbol of citizen participation that connects people and as a symbol of the August Festival.