This event has ended】2025 Edition! The Nagaoka Festival Fireworks Festival, the most colorful summer festival in Niigata.

  • Niigata
  • Sightseeing
Nagaoka Festival Fireworks Display (image)

We will do it again this year! The Nagaoka Matsuri Fireworks Festival, one of the three major fireworks festivals in Japan.

Fireworks season has come again this year.

Japan's three major fireworks are Omagari, Tsuchiura, and Nagaoka. One of Japan's three major fireworks festivals, the Nagaoka Matsuri Grand Fireworks Festival will be held on August 2 (Sat.) and August 3 (Sun.), 2025. This is one of the most popular fireworks festivals in Japan, attracting a large number of visitors over the two days every year. The largest fireworks display in Japan, the Shinano River, is the stage for the festival.

The "Grand Fireworks Display" is a major event of the Nagaoka Festival that started in 1947.
This year, the festival will be held on a weekend, so it will be crowded with many people. This year's festival will be held on a weekend, so it is sure to be crowded with many visitors.
The powerful fireworks that bloom in the summer night sky and make many people's hearts tremble are a memorial to those who died in the war and a symbolic reminder of peace. We will introduce the 2025 edition of the "Nagaoka Festival Fireworks Festival" that will make you want to visit again and again.
The summer night sky is decorated with colorful blossoms.

History of the Nagaoka Fireworks Festival

Do you know why the Nagaoka Fireworks Festival is held?

It originally started on September 14 and 15, 1879, when people involved in prostitutes offered funds to each other and set off 350 fireworks at the festival of Sente-cho Hachiman-sama. However, in 1938 (Showa 13), it was forced to be canceled due to the war.

Then came the most tragic summer day in the history of Nagaoka.

On August 1, 1945, a huge number of B-29 bombers hit the dark sky and bombed the city for 1 hour and 40 minutes starting at 10:30 pm, turning 80% of the old city area into a burnt field.

In the flames of the fire, 1,489 people lost their precious lives as far as we know today.
People were overcome with unspeakable grief and indignation at the nightmarish devastation that stretched as far as the eye could see.

One year after the air raid, on August 1, 1946, the "Nagaoka Reconstruction Festival," the predecessor of the Nagaoka Festival, was held.
The citizens of Nagaoka were comforted and encouraged by this festival, and they joined hands firmly to rebuild their city with an indomitable spirit of perseverance.
Even today, "Shirakiku," a memorial firework, is shot off at 10:30 p.m. on August 1, the day of the air raid, and at the beginning of the fireworks display on August 2 and 3.
The Nagaoka Fireworks Festival is filled with the spirit of "consolation, restoration, and peace.

What are the highlights of the Nagaoka Fireworks Festival?

～Fireworks display of the Shosan Shakudama

One of the highlights of the Nagaoka Fireworks Festival is the "Shosanshakudama," which was launched for the first time in Nagaoka in 1926. The large ball, 90 cm in diameter and weighing about 300 kg, is shot up to 600 m in the air and blooms into a large flower 650 m in diameter!
The size and color of the fireworks are of course the main attractions, but the "sound"
is what makes them so powerful and heartwarming.
The famous fireworks have become synonymous with the Nagaoka Fireworks Festival.

～Phoenix Fireworks for reconstruction

The "Phoenix for Recovery", a super-wide starmine with a launch width (total length) of approximately 2 km and a duration of approximately 5 minutes, soars high into the sky in a line of golden phoenixes, which were launched the following year in 2005 as a prayer for the recovery from the Great Chuetsu Earthquake that occurred in October 2004.
The "Fireworks for Recovery Phoenix" is intended to encourage people who have been injured by the earthquake and other disasters, and to pray for the earliest possible recovery. Once you see it, you will experience an unforgettable impression.
It is also famous for the song "Jupiter" sung by Ayaka Hirahara.
Please experience the spectacular fireworks in person!

～Fireworks for the reconstruction of the city

Nagaoka Fireworks is also famous for its music fireworks!
The most representative of these fireworks is the "Tenchijin Hanabi," which has been launched since 2008 to commemorate the 2009 broadcast of the historical drama "Tenchijin. The fireworks are a musical starmine display set to the theme song of "Tenchijin," based on the theme of "love" as set by Naoe Kanetsugu, a great man and movie with deep connections to Nagaoka.
The theme song and fireworks are perfectly matched.
I told you about the highlights of the Nagaoka Fireworks, which will be launched over two days. I have introduced some of the highlights of the two-day Nagaoka Fireworks display.
In addition to those introduced here, there are many other highlights of the Nagaoka Fireworks Festival.
Each of the fireworks that bloom on the Shinano River, the longest river in Japan, is filled with a variety of emotions, so you are sure to be overwhelmed from the opening of the show.
Nagaoka Fireworks in Summer (Video provided by Nagaoka Fireworks Foundation)

2025 Ticket sales have been closed.

All the bleacher seats for the 2025 festival are sold out. Unfortunately, there are no free seats available for the "Nagaoka Matsuri Grand Fireworks Festival," so please refer to next year's event!
In order to prevent accidents at the crowds, those who do not have bleacher tickets are requested to view the fireworks via the Internet or other means.
Click here for the latest information on Nagaoka Fireworks for 2025!

Combine your favorite train with lodging or a day trip plan for a great travel experience!

You can make your own original trip!

The " JR East View Dynamic Rail Package " is a variable-price individual travel product available only on the web, which allows you to choose your train and accommodations freely and apply for them all at once. Depending on the timing and conditions of your application, you may be able to save even on the day of departure at the earliest! We also offer one-day trip plans! Enjoy your own trip according to your schedule and purpose.
Tags related to this article
Previous post Back to list Next
related articles