Aoi Matsuri ★ 4.5
The Hollyhock Festival in Kyoto, dating to the 6th century and held annually May 15. A Heian-court procession from the Imperial Palace to Shimogamo and Kamigamo Shrines.
Gion Matsuri is a food festival in Kyoto.
Japan's most famous festival, July in Kyoto since 869. Yamaboko Junko float parades July 17 and 24; yoiyama evenings of yatai food stalls in Nakagyo nights.
Address: Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto 605-0073, Japan
The Hollyhock Festival in Kyoto, dating to the 6th century and held annually May 15. A Heian-court procession from the Imperial Palace to Shimogamo and Kamigamo Shrines.
Kyoto's Festival of Ages, October 22 each year since 1895. 2,000-strong period-costumed procession from the Imperial Palace to Heian Shrine with food stalls.
Kyoto's biggest Setsubun bean-throwing festival, early February each year at Yoshida-jinja. Roasted soybean and amazake stalls line the shrine grounds.
Kyoto Marathon weekend food village at Heian Shrine in mid-February. Kyoto street food and matcha stalls open for race spectators alongside the finish line.
Fushimi's annual sake festival in Kyoto, mid-October weekend. Tasting tickets cover 25+ local breweries plus food stalls; the city's biggest sake gathering.
Riverside kawayuka deck season on the Kamogawa in Kyoto, May to September. 90 restaurants from Pontocho to Kiyamachi open outdoor terraces over the river.