Foyle Obon Festival 2026 Saturday June 6th!

Pop the date in your diary and keep an eye here for more information soon!

日程をカレンダーに記入しておいて、詳細情報は近日中にこちらをチェックしてください！

Festival

Foyle Obon is Northern Ireland’s only Japanese summer festival—a joyful celebration of family, friendship, and community inspired by the Obon tradition. Held in The Playtrail – an accessible, cross-community space – the festival brings people of all ages, backgrounds, and identities together to enjoy an unforgettable day filled with Japanese food stalls, kakigori shaved ice, traditional games, quiz trails, arts and crafts, and high-energy performances. With taiko drumming, bon odori dance, and cultural workshops, it’s a unique opportunity to experience the richness of Japanese culture right here in Derry~Londonderry. Rooted in values of inclusion and reconciliation, the event is designed to be safe, accessible, and joyful for everyone. It also offers meaningful chances for local outreach participants to perform or volunteer, making it a true celebration of connection, creativity, and cultural exchange. Come for the drums, stay for the dancing—leave with a little more joy and a lot more connection!

フォイル・オボンは北アイルランドで唯一の日本の夏祭りで、お盆の伝統にインスパイアされた家族、友情、コミュニティの楽しい祭典です。プレイトレイルというアクセスしやすく、コミュニティーの垣根を越えたスペースで開催されるこのお祭りは、あらゆる年齢、バックグラウンド、アイデンティティーの人々が一堂に会し、日本食の屋台、かき氷、伝統的なゲーム、クイズ・トレイル、アート＆クラフト、エネルギッシュなパフォーマンスなど、忘れられない一日を楽しむことができます。和太鼓、盆踊り、文化ワークショップなど、ここデリー～ロンドンデリーで日本文化の豊かさを体験できるまたとない機会です。インクルージョンと和解の価値観に根ざしたこのイベントは、誰にとっても安全で、親しみやすく、楽しいものになるようデザインされている。また、地元のアウトリーチ参加者にとっても、パフォーマンスやボランティア活動を行う有意義な機会を提供し、つながり、創造性、文化交流の真の祭典となっている。太鼓を叩きに来て、ダンスを楽しみ、そしてより多くの喜びとつながりを感じて帰ってください！

Foyle Obon Festival 2026

Tickets on sale now!

This year, we’re doing things a little differently.

Instead of our usual daytime Foyle Obon festival, we’re bringing you a special evening concert event celebrating taiko, featuring the incredible San Jose Taiko, USA as our headline performers.

We are delighted that San Jose Taiko are coming back, after their amazing performance at Foyle Obon 2019. They’ll be joined by our own community taiko groups, plus traditional dance from Hannari Dance along with Bon Odori dancing (join in!)—so you can still expect that shared energy and passion, just in a more focused evening setting.

Refreshments will be available on site, including Hyve Coffee Northern Seoul plus kakigori, onigiri and chips!

While this year’s main public event is our concert, Foyle Obon Festival has events taking place across the week, with:

• public taiko workshops (info to follow)

• our Mini Matsuri schools event (as part of our Irish Foreign Ministry Reconciliation programme)

• and special project activity with San Jose Taiko!

The concert takes place in the amphitheater of the beautiful The Playtrail on Saturday June 6th at 7pm.

Tickets are £10 and are available online here!

Under 3s free (but please order a free ticket so we can keep our numbers right!)

Thanks to all our fabulous funders Arts Council of Northern Ireland What’s on Derry Strabane Irish Foreign Ministry The National Lottery Community Fund Northern Ireland Radius Housing

Foyle Obon Festival 2025

Foyle Obon was delighted to welcome Eiichi Saito and Taiyo Onoda from Kodō!!

Foyle Obon 2025 – Kodō bring their magic to Derry!

Foyle Obon Festival 2024

Foyle Obon was delighted to welcome RAW Taiko from Canada to our festival in May 2024!

Foyle Obon 2024 – RAW Taiko come to Derry!

Foyle Obon Festival 2023

We welcomed Shogo Yoshii to the festival in 2023 to premiere his composition Inochi Kagayake, Warera ga Matsuri together with the Matsuri Group of musicans!

Foyle Obon 2023 – Warera ga Matsuri!