[Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture] Snow Lantern Festival | Let's go see the fantastic scenery unique to the snow country!

  • ikoke
  • Last updated: 2023.09.28

The Snow Lantern Festival in Yonezawa City, Yamagata Prefecture, which will be held for the first time in three years, is a popular festival that has many fans not only from the city's residents but also from inside and outside the prefecture.

The silver world all around you and the orange lights flickering warmly in the falling snow invite visitors to a mysterious world.

We will introduce information about the beautiful festival [Uesugi Snow Lantern Festival] unique to the snowy country of Yonezawa, along with the 2023 event schedule and the scenery from past events.

What is the Uesugi Snow Lantern Festival?

(Before dawn at Dengokumori Square, Yonezawa City, where the event will be held)

February is the time when people in warm regions hear the news of plum blossoms, but Yonezawa City in Yamagata Prefecture is completely covered in snow and is enveloped in a quiet silence.

However, there is a festival that brings excitement to this cold, snowy country.

Every year, the Uesugi Snow Lantern Festival features 300 snow lanterns and nearly 1,000 snow lanterns, illuminating the main venue with orange lights.The flickering lights give visitors a warm feeling.has fascinated me.

There were many Instagrammable spots, and many people enjoyed taking photos.

How did the Snow Lantern Festival come to be held?

The Uesugi Snow Lantern Festival, which will be held for the 46th time this year, is said to have its origins in 1976, when a tower of requiem was made of snow and lights were dedicated to the souls of those who died in the Pacific War.

The scale grew each time, and it became a major event that brought vitality to the snow-covered city of Yonezawa .

A tent village has also appeared, and hot winter delicacies are sold, making it a popular festival that attracts many people.

Events have been canceled due to the coronavirus, but...

Unfortunately, the Snow Lantern Festival has been canceled in 2021 and 2022 due to the coronavirus.

A local construction company was looking forward to it, and even though it wasn't the usual festival venue, they built giant lanterns to keep the snow lanterns going.

Just by looking at these lanterns, you can see how strong the citizens' passion for snow lanterns is!

The event will be held for the first time in 3 years!

This year, it has been decided that the Snow Lantern Festival (2023), which people from both within and outside the prefecture have been looking forward to, will be held !

We will introduce the event dates and locations.

Friday, February 10th17：30～20：00pre-lit
Saturday, February 11th17：00～Requiem Festival (Uesugi Shrine precincts)
Snow lanterns and snow bonbori lighting (Uesugi Castle ruins area)
Sunday, February 12th17：30～Snow lanterns and snow lanterns lit (Uesugi Castle Ruins area)

On the day of the event, the Uesugi Castle Ruins parking lot will also be used as a festival plaza, so parking spaces will be limited.

For this reason, shuttle buses (charge: 210 yen) will be in operation, and there will be a large number of them, so we recommend using them to avoid traffic jams.

There are plans to use city circulation buses and taxis from in front of Yonezawa Station, as well as special paid transportation buses from the City Hall parking lot. The Yonezawa City Hall parking lot is open for free, so if you are bringing your own car, we recommend taking the bus from there .

A winter festival where citizens come together as one

Even when the Snow Lantern Festival was canceled, people continued to make and display snow lanterns and lanterns in private homes, in front of high schools near the castle ruins, and along roadsides.

The bamboo lanterns made by citizen volunteer groups are also spectacular!

summary

The Uesugi Snow Lantern Festival, which colors the northern winter, will be held for the first time in three years, and for three days, the snow-covered world will transform into a dream world .

The snow lanterns, ice sculptures, paper lanterns, etc. that various groups build little by little in preparation for the festival are all worth seeing, making it a recommended winter festival.

The sight of a blanket of pure white snow enveloped in warm orange light is sure to transport visitors to a mysterious world.

It may look like it's surrounded by warm lights, but it's actually very cold and sometimes snows heavily why not take some precautions against the cold and go out to enjoy the scenery that's different from your everyday life?

INFORMATION

  • Name: 46th Uesugi Snow Lantern Festival
  • Official URL: Uesugi Snow Lantern Festival Official Homepage
  • Event date and time: February 11th (Saturday) and 12th (Sunday) *On the 10th (Friday), the snow lantern pre-lighting will be held from 17:30 to 20:00.
  • Event time: Requiem from 17:00 on the 11th. Snow lanterns and snow lanterns will be lit from 17:30 on both days.
  • Venue: Uesugi Shrine precincts/Matsugasaki Park area

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