Gion Matsuri

Kyoto · Float procession

A whole month of rituals at Yasaka Shrine, built around two float processions on 17 and 24 July.

Dates

1 to 31 July 2027

Held every July, with the two float processions on 17 and 24 July.

Dates checked against the official site on August 20, 2026

What happens when

When	What	Where
14 to 16 July 2027	Saki Matsuri Yoiyama Three evenings with the floats lit in the streets north of Shijo.	Gion
17 July 2027, 09:00	Saki Matsuri Yamahoko Junko The larger of the two processions, with the corner turns at Shijo-Kawaramachi.
21 to 23 July 2027	Ato Matsuri Yoiyama The quieter three evenings, with no food stalls and fewer people.
24 July 2027, 09:30	Ato Matsuri Yamahoko Junko Eleven floats running the route in reverse, and far easier to watch.

Gion Matsuri is not a weekend. It runs the length of July, and most of it is quiet: purification rites, the drawing of lots that fixes the order of the floats, musicians practising in upstairs rooms. What visitors come for is concentrated into two halves. Each is a three-night yoiyama, when the downtown blocks north of Shijo close to cars and the yamahoko stand lit in the street, followed the next morning by a junko, the procession that hauls them through the city. The floats are the reason the festival is on the UNESCO list. The largest, the hoko, weigh around twelve tonnes and stand the height of a three-storey building, and they have no steering: turning a corner means laying split bamboo under the wheels, soaking it, and dragging the whole thing round by rope while the crowd counts the pulls. It is slow, and that is the point. The festival traces to 869, when the rites were held to end an epidemic.

Getting a good spot

The yoiyama evenings are far busier than the processions. If you want to see a float move rather than stand still, the corner of Shijo and Kawaramachi on the morning of 17 July is where the turns happen, and people are in place well before 09:00. The 24 July procession draws perhaps a third of the crowd.

Seats and tickets

The processions are free to watch from the street. Paid grandstand seats along Oike-dori go on sale in advance through Kyoto's tourism association and sell out for 17 July well before the day.

Where it happens

Yasaka Shrine Main site A Shinto shrine at the heart of Gion, center of the Gion Matsuri festival every July, one of Japan's three great fest... Gion Kyoto's most famous geisha district with traditional wooden machiya townhouses and atmospheric tea houses.

Access

Common questions

When is Gion Matsuri held?

Through the whole of July every year. The two float processions fall on 17 and 24 July, and the three yoiyama evenings precede each one.

Which is better to see, 17 or 24 July?

The 17 July procession is much larger, with 23 floats, and correspondingly harder to watch. The 24 July procession has 11 floats and perhaps a third of the crowd, so it is the better choice if you would rather see clearly than see everything.

Do I need a ticket?

No. Watching from the street is free. Paid grandstand seats on Oike-dori are sold in advance if you want a guaranteed view, and the 17 July seats sell out early.