Hiroshima Flower Festival

The Hiroshima Flower Festival (ひろしまフラワーフェスティバル) is a flower festival held annually in Hiroshima, Japan.

Hiroshima Flower Festival
Symbol Flower Tower with Flame
Location(s)Hiroshima
Founded1977
Websitehttp://www.hiroshima-ff.com

Overview

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The Hiroshima Flower Festival has been held every year since 1977 during Golden Week, from 3 May to 5 May. More than one million people take part in the festival each year.[citation needed]

The festival includes multiple stages for entertainment, shops, a small zoo, and other amusement attractions along Peace Boulevard and in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. Many concerts, dancing shows, fashion shows, talk shows, and traditional and contemporary performances featuring local citizens and other events are held throughout the area. Locals also participate in a parade, and Yosakoi dance on Peace Boulevard.

History

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The origin of the festival is the Japanese professional baseball Central League Champion parade for the Hiroshima Toyo Carp team in 1975. At the inaugural festival in 1977, Agnes Lum had to be escorted from the festival on a fire truck due to the number of fans overwhelming the event.[1]

Themes

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The underlying themes of the festival are to:[2]

  1. Make Hiroshima full of flowers, greens, and music.
  2. Share the brightness and dignity of life with all people.
  3. Appeal for a warm-hearted cultural and personnel interchange from Hiroshima to the world.

Events

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The key events of the festival are:[3]

Parades

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  • Flower parade on May 3.
  • Kinsai (visit us) Yosakoi parade on May 5.

Concerts and performances

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  • Multiple concerts and performances on twenty stages, and in seventy squares every day.
  • Candlelight services with peace messages and origami cranes
  • Mikoshi, Kagura and peace concerts are held at night.

Flower singer

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  • A featured performer termed the Flower singer was arranged to sing the theme song each year up to 2005. From 2006 the Flower singer was replaced with Flower Festival special guests, and other guests were also noted. These performers have been:
Year Flower singer Other artists
1977, 1978 Naomi Sagara
1979, 1980, 1985 Yoko Seri
1981 Junko Sakurada
1982 Hitomi Ishikawa
1983 Ikue Sakakibara
1984 Hidemi Ishikawa
1986 Judy Ongg
1987 Miho Nakayama
1988 Yū Hayami
1989 Noriko Sakai
1990 Tomomi Nishimura
1991 Fuyumi Sakamoto
1992 Eriko Tamura
1993 Reiko Kato
1994 Oyunaa
1995 Marcia
1996 Ranran Suzuki
1997 Yoshie Hayasaka
1998 Kim Yeon-ja
1999 Hikaru Nishida
2000 Kumiko Endo
2001 Miki Sakai
2002 Wakako Shimazaki
2003 Hitomi Shimatani
2004 Sonim
2005 Sayaka Kamizono
Year FF special guests Other guests
2006 MAX, Koriki Choshu, Hinoi Team
2007 Masashi Akiyama, Takako Uehara, Younha
2008 Ai Kawashima, Kousuke Atari, TDR characters
2009 Jero, Kaori Mizumori, Yokota-Kaguradan Aki-Gakudan, Osedo Chishima, Takashi & Chiharu, Sayaka Kamizono, Katsuhiko & Maco, Kentaro Kihara, Takahiro Miyazaki, CNA, DSC, Tomonari Takano, Takarabune, Chiharu Tamaki, trunk, Shoji Narita, Mebius, Kenta Morimoto, Anri Kumaki, The generous, Scandal, Miho Fukuhara, Lil'B

References

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  1. ^ 元祖“黒船グラドル”アグネス・ラム来日騒動 [The uproar of the arrival in Japan of the original "foreign gravure idol" Agnes Lum (page 3)] (in Japanese). Nikkan Gendai. March 7, 2014. Archived from the original on November 13, 2017. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  2. ^ "Hiroshima Flower Festival data". Archived from the original on 2009-04-11. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
  3. ^ "Hiroshima Flower Festival data". Archived from the original on 2009-04-11. Retrieved 2009-10-24.
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