Amazing AOMORI

＜Summer Fireworks＞

This event on a Saturday and Sunday in mid-June marks the start of the summer tourism season for Lake Towada and the surrounding area. Firework displays including special “message fireworks” commissioned to bear personal messages are shot off over Lake Towada on both nights of the festival, concluding with a grand finale of ground effect fireworks set to music. Night cruises are also offered that allow participants to view the fireworks and enchanting “balloon lanterns” from the deck of a boat on the lake. The magical nighttime scenery is something you’ll never forget.

Held on the banks of the Iwaki River in Hirosaki City on a night in late June, this large-scale event features about 10,000 rounds of exciting fireworks.

This firework display is held every year on the first Friday in August. Fireworks with various effects and musical accompaniment are shot off from a pier in front of the Shimokita Kokusetsu Dome in Mutsu City. The venue is only about a ten-minute walk from JR Ominato Station.

This event is held at Aomori Port on the final night of the Aomori Nebuta Festival (August 7). The festival’s prize-winning floats and others are lifted onto boats and ferried across the port as approximately 11,000 rounds of fireworks are shot off. The lights of the nebuta floats reflected on the dark surface of the sea, the colorful floats themselves, lively traditional festival music performed on the decks of the boats, and the thrilling sounds and dazzling lights of the fireworks combine to create a fitting grand finale for the renowned festival.

Held every year in August on the banks of the Iwaki River in Goshogawara City, this firework show also features fountains and lighting displays as about 5,000 rounds of fireworks are shot off to music. In the grand finale, an 80-meter-wide water curtain is lit up, creating a dazzling sight in the night sky alongside the fireworks.

This event in mid-August bids farewell to summer with round after round of explosive fireworks against the backdrop of Hachinohe’s Tatehana Wharf, a symbol of the city. Note that only paid seating is available inside the venue, but the close proximity of the venue to the shooting-off site makes viewing the fireworks from there an especially thrilling experience.

This event is held in late August in Fujisaki Town. First, paper lanterns are floated in multitudes down the Hirakawa River, creating a mystical sight. Then, about 5,000 rounds of colorful fireworks are shot off over the Tsugaru Plain as a gorgeous and sentimental farewell to summer in the region.

＜Winter Fireworks＞

This festival brings light, color, and excitement to the chilly winter season of the Lake Towada area. In addition to snow sculptures, LED illuminations, and various performances, thrilling fireworks are shot off over the lake. The colder temperatures and lower humidity allow the fireworks to be shot higher than in summer, and the stronger winds blow any smoke away quickly, making the fireworks show up even more brilliantly in the clear winter air. Like the Towada Lake Festival held in summer, spectators can also commission “message fireworks” to deliver a heartfelt message to someone special.

Whether in summer or winter, Aomori Prefecture’s firework displays are thrilling forms of pyrotechnic entertainment that light up the night sky with explosions of sound and color. Why not incorporate a firework-viewing experience into your own Aomori trip?