Toyooka Theatre Festival 2025

What makes the Toyooka Theater Festival unique is how its venues extend beyond conventional theaters to encompass various locations throughout the city, such as the hot spring town, coastal areas, highlands, and traditional wooden community theater stages built on shrine grounds. While highlighting the attractions of the region, which includes parts of San’in Kaigan Geopark, the festival offers a program that is sure to delight performing-arts enthusiasts from across the country. It features around 70 performing groups from Japan and overseas, including international collaboration projects, emerging theater companies, and street performances.Not only will there be plenty of opportunities to watch performances, but as visitors discover intriguing attractions, and take their time to wander around the unique areas, they are also sure to encounter delicious meals, renowned hot springs, and breathtaking scenery in each locale.

The Toyooka Theater Festival started in 2020 as a performing-arts festival primarily focused on theater and dance. The festival serves as a platform for artists to create and showcase their work, while also providing opportunities for visitors and residents to engage with diverse cultures and values, aiming to become a space for international exchange.

Furthermore, the Toyooka Theater Festival maintains a strong connection with tourism and community development efforts. It endeavored to give back to the local community, by promoting travel, conducting trials and demonstrations of public transportation, introducing a local currency, fostering programs that work closely with the tourism industry, and developing programs and workshops that involve local residents.

These efforts have been positively received, with the festival being awarded the Tourism 2021 Sports Culture Tourism Award, Tourism Award (Sports Agency, Agency for Cultural Affairs, Japan Tourism Agency); the Special Award at the 20th Kansai Zaikai Seminar (Kansai Association of Corporate Executives); and the 2023 Furusato-zukuri Grand Prize Group Award (Commendation by the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications).
Through our collaboration with the Professional College of Arts and Tourism (established in Toyooka City in 2021), we will engage in academic analysis and impact assessments to contribute even further to the local community.