Iwaki Tanabata Festival (Taira Tanabata)

The Iwaki Tanabata Festival is a traditional event held August 6–8 along the Ekimae-odori shopping streets of Taira in central Iwaki, Fukushima. The long-running 'Taira Tanabata' was renamed in 2019, and more than a hundred lavish decorations devised by shops and groups fill the streets, blanketing the whole town in vivid color. Over 300 stalls draw large crowds, and on the final day the citizen-danced 'Iwaki Odori' brings the festival to its climax. It is widely loved as a signature summer tradition of the Joban area.