murmurOmuta Daijayama Festival
Omuta City · Taishomachi festival plaza and other sites in central Omuta
Dates and details can change. Always check the official website before you go.
Omuta Daijayama Festival Promotion Association · Last checked: Oct 10, 2026
Dates
Dates confirmed with official sources
- 2026
- Jul 18–26, 2026 （Ended） Port festival on July 18-19; 10,000-person dance and Gion Rokuzan procession on July 25; grand Daijayama parade on July 26
- 2027
- Dates have not been announced yet. Please check the official website.
- Usual timing
- Usually late July
- How the date is set
- Changes from year to year Main events on the fourth Saturday and Sunday of July, with related events such as the port festival the weekend before
- Venue
- Taishomachi festival plaza and other sites in central Omuta
- City
- Omuta City, Fukuoka
About
Giant serpents breathing fire and smoke parade through Omuta in the city's largest summer festival. The daijayama floats are about 10 meters long, the heaviest reaching 3 tons, with a wooden frame covered in paper, bamboo and straw and shaped into a serpent from head to tail. They roll along to the boom of drums and the clang of bells, and having a child bitten by a serpent's mouth is said to keep illness away. The floats are thought to come from a blend of the Gion faith with the worship of snakes and dragons as water gods. In 1961 the Daijayama Gion festival, which dates to the Edo period, was merged with the city's coal-town and port festivals to create today's event. At the main events in the Taishomachi downtown area you can see many serpents up close, along with a mass dance of 10,000 people.
Sources
- OfficialOmuta Daijayama Festival Promotion Association www.omuta-daijayama.com
- OfficialFukuoka Prefecture Tourism Association (Crossroad Fukuoka) www.crossroadfukuoka.jp
Last checked: Oct 10, 2026. Event information is based on official announcements, but changes may not always be reflected here. Please check each official website for accurate details.
Other events this month
On the day, see what locals are murmuring on the murmur map
murmur is an app that shows short, anonymous posts on a map, right where they were written. On festival day, open the map around the venue and see what people nearby are saying.