Aoi Festival Tour/Travel 2025

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Club Tourism's Kyoto Travel and Tour Specials! We support you with a tour guide. We will guide on famous landmarks such as Kiyomizudera, Ginkakuji, Kinkakuji, Arashiyama, Sagano Scenic Railway, Sanjusangendo, Byodoin Temple, and Kifune shrines, as well as the information about the three major festivals in Kyoto, local specialties, and souvenirs. Searching and booking tours is also easy.

Kyoto 3 Great Festivals: Kyoto Gozan Okuribi

What is the Aoi Festival?
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What is the Aoi Festival?

Date: May. 15th every year (postponed to the day after if it rains)

Aoi Festival (Image) © Kyoto City Tourism Association

The Aoi Festival is one of Kyoto three major festivals and is known as the most elegant and traditional of all festivals in Japan.
This annual festival of Kamomioya Shrine (Shimogamo Shrine) and Kamo Wakeikazuchi Shrine (Kamigamo Shrine) has been held as a national event since the Heian period, and is one of the few festivals in Japan that retains the traditions of imperial customs.
The classical procession, lined up in the exact style of Heian period aristocrats, departs from the Kyoto Imperial Palace, and the elegant procession of over 500 people passes through Shimogamo Shrine before heading to Kamigamo Shrine.

The highlight of the Aoi Festival is the Roto no Gi (procession), where the procession departs from the Kyoto Imperial Palace dressed as Heian aristocrats. The elegant imperial procession, consisting of over 500 people, 36 horses, 4 oxen, 2 oxcarts, and 1 palanquin, proceeds with views of the peaks of Higashiyama and Kitayama in the distance, and can be seen traveling for about 8 kilometers.