The Hakata Dontaku Port Festival is held every year during Golden Week. It is run by the Fukuoka Citizens' Festival Promotion Association with the aim of promoting the region through the festival, and is a hugely popular event among locals and tourists alike.

It will be held on May 3rd and 4th, with a pre-festival on May 2nd. This time, we will introduce the appeal of the Hakata Dontaku Port Festival, where the parade, the main event, has become even more spectacular than ever.

What is the Hakata Dontaku Port Festival?

The Hakata Dontaku Port Festival is a festival held in Fukuoka City, and has its origins in the traditional folk event "Hakata Matsubayashi" that began about 840 years ago. Since 1962, it has been a popular celebration for Fukuoka citizens, and this year marks its 63rd anniversary.

Today, it has become one of Japan's largest festivals, attracting more than 2 million people from Japan and abroad, but last year the COVID-19 outbreak was classified as Class 5, and the festival was held on the same scale as before the pandemic.

The motto for 2024 is "Send the smiles and energy of the festival!", and you can enjoy the following events. In this article, we will introduce the "Hakata Matsubayashi," "Dontaku Square Parade," and "Performance Stage."

Hakata Matsubayashi

The Hakata Matsubayashi, a nationally designated intangible folk cultural asset, forms four streams of the three gods of good fortune (Fukujin, Ebisu, and Daikoku) and young children and parades through the city, marking the start of the parade. You can see the gods of good fortune riding horses and holding Chinese fans, the loving couple of Ebisu, Daikoku carrying a small hammer and a rice sack, and young children dancing gracefully to the accompaniment of Tsuzumi.

Dontaku Square Parade

The Dontaku Square Parade is a dynamic parade that stretches from Hakata to Tenjin along Meiji Street. The Dontaku troupes dress up in various costumes and perform elaborate performances. This year, tourist box seats have been installed for the first time in five years, so you can enjoy the parade from a special seat.

HOTEL RESOL TRINITY HAKATA is located right in front of this major artery, allowing you to enjoy the parade just a short walk away.

Hakata Dontaku Stage

The Dontaku Troupe, full of individuality and diversity, will perform on stages set up all over the city. Starting with the main stage in front of Fukuoka City Hall, there will be nearly 40 stages set up, including in the Tenjin Underground Mall and in front of Hakata Station.

The closest place to HOTEL RESOL TRINITY HAKATA is the Hakatagawa Suijo Honbutai, which can be reached on foot from Kawabata Zenzai Square across the Hakatagawa River to Nakasu 3-chome. The Hakatagawa Suijo Honbutai has become a regular feature of Dontaku, and you can enjoy the Hakatagawa Suijo Stage while feeling the early summer river breeze.

The organizers' thoughts on the festival and this year's highlights

This year's subtitle is "Send the smiles and energy of the festival!" It expresses the charm of Dontaku, a traditional festival that brings smiles to the faces of not only the participants but also the spectators, and also conveys the desire to send energy from Fukuoka to those affected by the Noto Peninsula earthquake.


Highlights of this year's event include the "tourist box seats," which will be set up for the first time in five years, allowing visitors to enjoy a special seating experience while watching the splendid parade, and the participation of a diverse and unique "Dontaku troupe" from Japan and abroad, who will parade along Meiji Street and perform on stages set up around the city. Following on from last year, people from Vietnam, Myanmar, Nepal, Mongolia, and Taiwan will also be taking part in the parade, and for the first time in five years, people from Malaysia will also be taking part in the parade.

It is our hope that this festival, which aims to be "Asia's leading festival," will become an international festival that can be enjoyed by many visitors from both within Japan and overseas.

A desire to revive Fukuoka's festivals

"There's a festival in Hakata! This year, for the first time in five years, we will be setting up "tourist box seats," so we hope you will enjoy watching the wonderful parade from a special seat. The finale on May 4th will be the "So Odori" dance, which anyone can take part in. We hope everyone will join in and liven up the closing of the traditional Hakata Dontaku.


In addition, in a situation where inbound tourism is rapidly recovering worldwide, Fukuoka City is participating in the "Western Golden Route," an initiative that brings together Western Japan and Kyushu to promote the attractions of each region. We hope that many visitors will come to Fukuoka City, the gateway to Kyushu, and enjoy the traditional festivals that Fukuoka is proud of and the attractive sightseeing spots of Kyushu.

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Fukuoka Citizens' Festival Promotion Association

Phone number: 092-441-1118

Address: 2-9-28 Hakataekimae, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture (Fukuoka Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 6th floor, Regional Development Department)

HP: https://www.dontaku.fukunet.or.jp/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hakata_dontaku/?hl=ja
X: https://twitter.com/HAKATA_DONTAKU
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fukuokashinzentaisi/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCznpU474BNCzZSg5MTdW5kA

*For details on business hours and holidays, please check the link above.