Matsuri Are Fully Coming Back– Prepare For Kutchan’s Potato Festival

Matsuri, or festivals, are making a full-return in Niseko this year after a prolonged period of restraint due to COVID restrictions.

Kutchan Town’s symbolic summer festival, “Kutchan Jyaga Matsuri”, will make a full-scale comeback and be held at Ekimae Dori, the road stretching from the station, for the first time in 4 years, just as it was before COVID.

Kutchan Jyaga Matsuri traces its roots back to a festival held in the 1940s to express gratitude to farmers and potatoes.

Over the years, it has evolved into an energetic festival featuring potato-bag-filling events, long line of dancers, and a parade of large lanterns at night.

This year, the potato festival will be held on 5 and 6 August.

In addition to the Kutchan Jyaga Matsuri, several other smaller festivals and events are making a return after several years of absence due to COVID.

One of them is the “Kutchan Warai Zake Matsuri” or “Kutchan Laughing Alchohol Festival” in English translation, which took place for the first time in 4 years on 6 July.

At this event, the visitors ordered drinks from multiple stores in Kutchan and collected stamps to enter a lottery with a prize of JPY30,000.

Source:
Hokkaido Shinbun – 27 June 2023

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