Sumida River Fireworks Festival

It is called Tokyo's biggest fireworks show, the Hanabi Taikai is one of the best you'll ever see. The street stalls serving hot sake, corn on the cob and other treats add extra flavor.

More than 20,000 individual rockets are fired from two separate bases along the river in a visual feast that lasts for over an hour. Most of the 900,000 spectators head for Asakusa's Sumida Park which gets incredibly busy, but is worth a bit of crowd barging for the amazing atmosphere.

This is major event in Tokyo's cultural calendar that draws crowds of more than a million with up to 20,000 fireworks. It is held annually on the last Sunday of July. The Sumida River Fireworks Festival is a restoration of an Edo spectacle. The festival is first held in the year 1733 to officially open the river to boats for the summer. The fireworks shows start in the evening but people start to gather in the evening to book their seat.

The display includes a competition between rival firework companies, so expect some state- of- the- art pyrotechnics. The boats are the best viewing locations. The Japanese word for firework, hanabi, means fire- flower and the short- lived beauty of a firework has much in common with that of the celebrated cherry blossom.

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Contact Information

Sumida River Fireworks Festival
Sumida Park
111-0032 Tokyo

Tel. +81352461111

http://http://events.skyteam.com/sisp/index.htm?fx=event&event_id=23649