Gifu Nagaragawa Fireworks Festival
長良川花火大会
Gifu Nagaragawa Fireworks Festival is a fireworks festival held in Chubu. Date: Before the merger the last Saturday of July and the first Saturday of August; after the merger around the second Saturday of August, as on 2026-08-08.. Total shells: about 約3万発/回 - 7月（全国選抜長良川中日花火大会）と8月（長良川全国花火大会）の2回開催. Attendance: 約30万人/回. No. Not published
Event essentials
Headline stats
- Total Shells
- 約3万発/回 - 7月（全国選抜長良川中日花火大会）と8月（長良川全国花火大会）の2回開催
- Duration
- 90 min
- Nights
- 2 night(s)
- Attendance
- 約30万人/回
- Largest Shell
- Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass)
- Founding Year
- 10 August 1946 (Showa 21) - the first Nagaragawa National Fireworks Festival, the August event, which anchors the 1946 start of this collective name
Signature Sequences
- 01A summer festival on the Nagara River held twice, in July and in August
- 02About 30,000 shells a night - some 60,000 were fired in a single summer
- 03A shell count described as among the largest in Japan
- 04After the merger, paid supporter stands (reserved and open seating) on the right bank
- 05After the merger the food stalls also require a supporter ticket
Venue & Access
- Time Window
- Each edition fires from 19:30 and is over by 21:00 (about 90 minutes)
- Venue
- Nagara River bank between Nagara Bridge and Kinka Bridge, Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture
- Address
- Nagara River bank between Nagara Bridge and Kinka Bridge, Gifu City, Gifu Prefecture
- Venue Size
- Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass)
- Venue Floor Type
- The Nagara River terrace between Nagara Bridge and Kinka Bridge; after the merger the north bank is the viewing area and the mid-channel island the launch site.
- Gates Open
- Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass)
- Paid-Seat Holder Entry
- Not published
- Spectator Capacity
- About 400,000 per night (recorded attendance in 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008 and 2014)
- Launch Company
- Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass)
- Production Company
- Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass)
- Sponsor
- Before the merger: the Chunichi Shimbun ran the July event and the Gifu Shimbun with Gifu Hoso the August event. After the merger (2023-): the Gifu Nagaragawa Fireworks Festival executive committee of Gifu City, the Chunichi and Gifu Shimbun, the Gifu Chamber of Commerce, the Gifu Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Gifu Nagaragawa Onsen Ryokan Cooperative, the Gifu Hotel Association and the neighbourhood community associations
Access
From major cities
- From Tokyo
- About 25 min from the Gifu Kakamigahara IC of the Tokai-Hokuriku Expressway via National Routes 21 and 256 (from the merged festival access notes).
- From Osaka
- Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass)
- From Sendai
- Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass)
- Nearest Station
- Gifu Bus to the Ugaiya stop from the JR Gifu Station and Meitetsu Gifu Station bus stops
- Nearest Shinkansen
- JR Gifu Station and Meitetsu Gifu Station
- Local Transit
- Gifu Bus to the Ugaiya stop from the JR Gifu Station and Meitetsu Gifu Station bus stops; service suspended from 19:00. Temporary shuttle buses run.
- Parking
- The merged festival records no dedicated car park near the venue; no capacity is documented for this collective name.
- Parking Reservation
- Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass)
- Lodging Strategy
- Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass)
- English Access
- Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass)
- Cash Required
- Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass)
- Best Arrival
- The venue is a river terrace in central Gifu and congests from the late afternoon; the bus stops running at 19:00, so plan the return journey.
- Peak Crowd
- The 19:30-21:00 firing window on each night is the most congested.
Tickets
- Seat Type
- No paid seating types are documented under this festival name. The merged successor, the Gifu Nagaragawa Fireworks Festival, does have paid supporter seats (reserved and open seating)
- Price Range
- Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass)
- Seat Count
- Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass) seats
- Sellout History
- Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass)
- Reservation
- Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass)
- Day-Of Ticket
- Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass)
Weather Policy
- Rain
- Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass)
- Decision Time
- Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass)
- Postponement
- The merged festival is held in light rain and moves to Saturday 22 August 2026 in storms or floods with no further postponement. Before the merger, 2020, 2021 and 2022 were cancelled.
- Wind Threshold
- Not confirmed in the sources checked (2026-10-20 pass)
- Typical Risks
- Late July to early August in Gifu brings extreme heat and thunderstorms; in 2020 police could not be secured for the Tokyo Olympics.
- Weather Cancellation History
- The 66th edition of the August event, scheduled for 6 August 2011, was cancelled after the Great East Japan Earthquake; 2020 was cancelled because police could not be secured for the Tokyo Olympics.