2026 "74th Shonan Hiratsuka Tanabata Festival" gallery released

update Last updated: July 4, 2026 at 11:30 AM

In the town where I live, Shonan Hiratsuka, the Shonan Hiratsuka Tanabata Festival is held every July. Since it is very crowded on Saturdays and Sundays, I visited the venue twice, once during the day and once in the evening, during Friday's less crowded hours, and took photos of the beautiful Tanabata decorations.
The photos will be published on this page as a gallery for the 2026 "74th Shonan Hiratsuka Tanabata Festival."

The "Shonan Hiratsuka Tanabata Festival" is held around the north exit of JR Hiratsuka Station. It is one of the three major Tanabata festivals in the Kanto region, with gorgeous large Tanabata decorations and numerous stalls, and a parade of 1,000 Tanabata dancers held on the first day.

The outline of the 2026 "74th Shonan Hiratsuka Tanabata Festival" is as follows.

Event overview

  • schedule: July 3rd (Golden) ~ 5th (Sunday), 2026
  • time: 9:30-20:30 (until 19:00 on the last day)
  • place: Shonan Star Mall at the north exit of JR Hiratsuka Station, Beniya Pearl Road, Tokaido Main Street and surrounding roads

Main attractions and events

  • large tanabata decoration: Around 100 gorgeous large-scale decorations, some over 10 meters long, will fill the streets around Shonan Star Mall and Beniya Pearl Road.
  • Stall/Street stall: About 100 stalls are lined up mainly on Tokaido Main Street, and you can enjoy gourmet food and street food along with stalls in surrounding shopping streets.
  • Tanabata Odori Thousand People Parade: It will be held at Shonan Star Mall from 10:30 on Friday, July 3rd.
  • Tanabata citizen stage: Events such as "Tanabata Stage 2026" will be held at Hirashin Hiratsuka Cultural Arts Hall.

In addition, "Tanabata COOL" will be held to prevent heat stroke, and misting fans will be installed and venue wiring will be maintained. For the latest event schedule and detailed information on traffic regulations, please check the [Official] Shonan Hiratsuka Tanabata Festival.tanabata-hiratsuka.com

Afternoon

night part

stall

Approximately 100 food stalls will be set up mainly on Tokaido Hondori and Mitsukedai Park, but this year, the parking lot of the former Umeya main building site (Benitanicho) was also turned into a food stall area, as shown below.
Originally, it was planned that an apartment building (the first floor would be occupied by tenants) would be built here, but the plan was scrapped due to the recent surge in material prices.
After investigating the circumstances, it was revealed on June 16th during general questioning by Councilor Akihiro Katakura at a regular meeting of the Hiratsuka City Council that the land at the site of the Umeya Main Building, which closed in September 2022, was acquired by the Hiratsuka Shinkin Bank (chairman Tatsuya Onoe), whose main branch is in Beniya-cho. The site has been used as a parking lot since June, but it seems that future use will be considered together with Hiratsuka City.

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