Let's go to a food festival where you can taste Hokkaido's gourmet food!
The Food Fest, where you can enjoy seasonal produce, is a great opportunity to taste the delicious gourmet foods of Hokkaido! In addition to gourmet foods, there are many other events that you can only experience here. We hope you will join us at the Food Fest to enjoy the flavors of Hokkaido.
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Spring - Summer (May - August)
In spring and summer, you can enjoy the colorful Hokkaido. These are pleasant seasons and perfect for excursions. Gourmet food under the blue sky is exceptionally delicious! Here are some events held during this refreshing season.
- Spring Crab Battle in Abashiri
- [Time] May
[Place] Abashiri City, Roadside Station Ryuhyo-Kaido Abashiri special venue
Abashiri is famous for its hairy crabs; the hairy crabs landed around mid-April are called "drift ice hairy crabs" and are exquisite.
This event is the place to enjoy these crabs. If you catch a thrown crab, you can take it home for free! At the venue, live crabs are boiled at once in a special boiling pot, and you can taste fresh and delicious hairy crabs. - View more
- Akkeshi Cherry Blossom and Oyster Festival
- [Time] May
[Place] Nenohi Park, Akkeshi Town
While enjoying cherry blossoms in full bloom, visitors will enjoy seafood such as oysters and large clams, which are a specialty of Akkeshi, grilled over charcoal.
There are many events such as catching oysters There is also a clam catching event for children to enjoy. Many people visit this festival every year. - View more (Japanese site)
- Kumaishi Abalone Village Festival
- [Time] July
[Place] Yakumo Town, Kumaishi Fishing Port Fureai Plaza
This is an event where visitors can enjoy grilled abalone with a fragrant aroma of the sea. A charcoal grill corner will be set up where visitors can taste freshly grilled abalone and scallops they have purchased. There will also be stage events, a bingo raffle, a singing show, and much more. - View more (Japanese site)
- Odaitou Shrimp Festival
- [Time] July
[Place] Betsukai Town, Odaitou Fishing Port Special Site
This is a summer tradition in Betsukai Town. Visitors can enjoy fresh Hokkai shrimp, clams, and other seafood from Odaitou. There will also be many family-friendly events, such as a race to see who can finish a live Hokkai Striped Shrimp in the fastest time, and a singing show featuring gorgeous guests. - View more (Japanese site)
Autumn (September and October)
Autumn in Hokkaido is so full of delicious foods that you may want to go out of your way to visit during this season! Here are some events where you can enjoy the flavors of autumn.
- Shintoku New Soba Festival
- [Time] September
[Place] Parking lot in front of the Shintoku Town Health and Welfare Center "Nagomi
Shintoku Town is famous for its soba (buckwheat noodles). The "Teuchi-Soba Yatai Mura" (handmade buckwheat noodle stall village) is a popular place to enjoy freshly made, freshly ground, freshly beaten, and freshly boiled buckwheat noodles. Other stalls include the "Soba Cyaya," where you can enjoy soba inari sushi, soba crepes, and more, offering a variety of ways to enjoy the delicious soba. - View more (Japanese site)
- Sapporo Autumn Fest
- [Time] September
[Place] Sapporo City, Odori Park
The tastes of Hokkaido will gather! This is a food festival where you can enjoy delicious seasonal ingredients and local gourmet foods from all over Hokkaido at once. The venue is lined with stores, and it is exciting to see which ones you will eat.More than 2 million people visit this popular Sapporo event. - View more
- Furano Wine Grape Festival
- [Time] September
[Place] Furano City
This is Furano's autumn harvest festival. The three major wineries in the Furano area will also gather, where visitors can enjoy popular Furano wines and luxurious grape juice harvested in the area. Visitors can also taste Furano's rich natural bounty, including the festival's popular cheese fondue. Visitors can also enjoy grape stomping performances and live stage events. - View more (Japanese site)
- Hakodate Gourmet Circus
- [Time] September
[Place] Hakodate City, Hakodate Green Plaza, etc.
This is one of Hakodate's largest food events. Tents of local gourmet foods will be lined up in a row. Visitors can taste gourmet foods from popular Hakodate restaurants as well as fresh local seafood and mountain delicacies. There will also be a variety of specialty foods, beer, and other delicious gourmet foods. Visitors can also enjoy gourmet foods from all over Tohoku and other parts of Japan with ties to Hakodate. - View more (Japanese site)
- Horokanai Town New Soba Festival
- [Time] September
[Place] Around the Horokanai Town Hall
This festival is held by Horokanai Town, which is said to be ""the best soba town in Japan. Not only popular local buckwheat noodle shops, but also buckwheat noodle shops from all over Japan open their stalls, and visitors can enjoy eating and comparing delicious buckwheat noodles. The festival also features competitions such as the ""Amateur Soba Making Dan Certification Tournament"" and the ""Hokkaido Amateur Soba Making Meijin Tournament,"" in which contestants compete in soba making techniques. Visitors can also enjoy a hands-on experience of stone milling. - View more (Japanese site)
- Akkeshi Oyster Festival
- [Time] October
[Place] Akkeshi Town, Nenohi Park
This is an event where you can taste seafood such as oysters and clams, which are specialties of Akkeshi. There are grilling tables for rent, so you can grill your purchases over charcoal on the spot! You can fully enjoy the delicious seafood.The annual catching of oysters and children's participation in catching clams are also very popular. - View more
- Tomakomai Fishing Port Hokki Festival
- [Time] October
[Place] Tomakomai City, Tomakomai Port West Fishing Port Area
Tomakomai has the largest amount of hokki shellfish landings in Japan! At the annual festival, visitors can taste Tomakomai's local delicacies, such as hokki curry, hokki rice, and hokki yakisoba. The festival is also crowded with people selling hokki clams at a special price. There are also fun events such as a hokki peeling contest and hokki picking. - View more (Japanese site)
- Ikeda Town Autumn Wine Festival
- [Time] October
[Place] Ikeda Town, event plaza next to the wine castle
This event will be held at the Ikeda Town Grape and Wine Research Institute, the brewery of Tokachi wine. You can drink all the Tokachi wine you want. You can fully enjoy Tokachi gourmet foods such as char-grilled Hokkaido beef and boldly grilled whole beef. - View more (Japanese site)
Winter (November and December)
Hokkaido's gourmet food is even more delicious in the harsh winter months! Hot soups and other dishes served outside are superb. Here are some popular events held every winter.
- Munich Christmas Market in Sapporo
- [Time] November
[Place] Sapporo City, Odori Park
This popular annual event is a reproduction of the Christmas market in Sapporo's sister city, Munich, Germany. Booths selling Christmas dishes, German sausages, and other delicious German food, as well as booths selling cute Christmas items, will be lined up. Santa Claus makes an appearance every day, adding to the Christmas spirit! - View more (Japanese site)
- Hiroo Hairy Crab Festival
- [Time] December
[Place] Hiroo Town, Seaside Park Hiroo special venue
This is a popular event in the fishing town of Hiroo. The hairy crabs and hairy crab soup boiled in cauldrons as large as 2 meters in diameter are exquisite. There are also many other fresh seafood products from Hiroo on display. There is also a fun raffle and other events to enjoy. - View more (Japanese site)
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