Shonan Hiratsuka Tanabata Festival

The Shonan Hiratsuka Tanabata Festival is a summer festival held in the shopping streets north of JR Hiratsuka Station in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa. It is known for its large, elaborate Tanabata decorations, about 100 of which hang along Shonan Star Mall and Beniya Pearl Road.

History

Hiratsuka was home to a naval gunpowder arsenal, and an air raid in July 1945 destroyed about 70 percent of the city centre. A recovery festival followed in 1950. The first Tanabata festival was held a year later, in July 1951, organized by the Hiratsuka Chamber of Commerce and the city's federation of shopping streets and modelled on the Tanabata festival in Sendai. The city took over as organizer in 1957, and an executive committee has run the festival since 2011. Its dance, the Tanabata Odori (七夕おどり), was introduced for the 20th festival in 1970.

What happens

The festival is laid out in three areas. The decorations hang along Shonan Star Mall and Beniya Pearl Road. Event and sponsor booths fill Mitsukedai Park, residents perform on stage at the Hirashin Hiratsuka Culture and Arts Hall, and street stalls line Tokaido Hondori.

On the opening day, the Tanabata Dance Thousand-Person Parade moves along Shonan Star Mall beneath the decorations, led by the Shonan Hiratsuka Orihime, the women chosen each year to represent the festival and the city. A contest judges the decorations in four categories: the central shopping streets, the city's districts, residents' groups, and groups working with children of elementary school age and younger. The winners receive their awards at the hall during the festival, which opens and closes with ceremonies at Beniyacho Machikado Plaza.

The 2026 edition

The 74th festival kept the three-area layout of the year before and stayed open 30 minutes later on its first two days. About 80 large decorations hung along Shonan Star Mall, 26 of them made by residents' groups, and 17 along Beniya Pearl Road. Seventeen children's decorations went up at Beniyacho Machikado Plaza ahead of the festival. New in 2026 was Tanabata COOL, a set of heat measures: mist fans in the decoration and event areas, and a map of shops offering relief from the heat.