Hiroshima Flower Festival to be delayed until June next year, in consideration of G7 Hiroshima Summit held in May
Nov. 8, 2022
by Yuichi Ishii, Staff Writer
On November 7, the working committee of the Hiroshima Flower Festival finalized its plans to alter the festival schedule to the two days of June 10 and 11th next year, 2023. The festival is typically held in Hiroshima’s centrally located Naka Ward during the extended vacation period in May known in Japan as Golden Week. However, the committee made the scheduling change to help ensure smooth management of the summit meeting of the G7 (attended by the Group of Seven industrialized nations), scheduled to be held in Hiroshima during the period May 19–21, next year. Parades on Peace Boulevard, in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward, have come to symbolize the festival’s energy and pomp and are expected to make a return for the first time in four years.
The festival usually features staged events and parades along Peace Boulevard during May 3–5. The number of visitors to the festival in recent years has averaged about 1.6 million over the three days. The festival committee decided to change the schedule to avoid impacting the G7 Hiroshima Summit from security and other standpoints. As tourism demand in Hiroshima is expected to rise after the summit, the festival in June is also anticipated to draw a larger number of visitors than usual.
According to the committee’s plan, the period for the 2023 festival will be shortened to two days from the typical three-day duration. The committee is looking into once again holding other festival events on Peace Boulevard such as the Flower Parade, the Kinsai Yosakoi parade, and sightseeing product exhibits, events that have been put on hold in recent years due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Hiroshima Flower Festival got its start in 1977. In pre-pandemic 2019, more than 20,000 people representing about 850 organizations performed in staged events and parades during the three-day period. Earlier this year, 2022, the festival was downsized to have a specific focus on staged events held at the International Conference Center Hiroshima, located in the city’s Naka Ward.
(Originally published on November 8, 2022)
On November 7, the working committee of the Hiroshima Flower Festival finalized its plans to alter the festival schedule to the two days of June 10 and 11th next year, 2023. The festival is typically held in Hiroshima’s centrally located Naka Ward during the extended vacation period in May known in Japan as Golden Week. However, the committee made the scheduling change to help ensure smooth management of the summit meeting of the G7 (attended by the Group of Seven industrialized nations), scheduled to be held in Hiroshima during the period May 19–21, next year. Parades on Peace Boulevard, in Hiroshima’s Naka Ward, have come to symbolize the festival’s energy and pomp and are expected to make a return for the first time in four years.
The festival usually features staged events and parades along Peace Boulevard during May 3–5. The number of visitors to the festival in recent years has averaged about 1.6 million over the three days. The festival committee decided to change the schedule to avoid impacting the G7 Hiroshima Summit from security and other standpoints. As tourism demand in Hiroshima is expected to rise after the summit, the festival in June is also anticipated to draw a larger number of visitors than usual.
According to the committee’s plan, the period for the 2023 festival will be shortened to two days from the typical three-day duration. The committee is looking into once again holding other festival events on Peace Boulevard such as the Flower Parade, the Kinsai Yosakoi parade, and sightseeing product exhibits, events that have been put on hold in recent years due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Hiroshima Flower Festival got its start in 1977. In pre-pandemic 2019, more than 20,000 people representing about 850 organizations performed in staged events and parades during the three-day period. Earlier this year, 2022, the festival was downsized to have a specific focus on staged events held at the International Conference Center Hiroshima, located in the city’s Naka Ward.
(Originally published on November 8, 2022)
