Nakijin is throwing a party, and it’s not your average summer matsuri. The 16th Nakijin Festival is set for August 23 (Sat) and 24 (Sun), 2025, at the Nakijin Village General Sports Park and the Village Bullring. Expect two days packed with bullfighting, live music, karaoke, a seaweed-grabbing contest, and the kind of fireworks you didn’t know you needed—watermelon-shaped fireworks (yes, really).
🍉 What’s the Deal with Watermelon Fireworks?
Nakijin is a watermelon powerhouse, so it makes sense they’d celebrate by launching the fruit into the sky—firework style. It’s the first of its kind in Okinawa, and both nights will end with these fruity explosions lighting up the sky. Sweet.
🐂 Bullfighting Meets Pop Music
Not many festivals can pull off a schedule that combines bullfighting in the afternoon and pop concerts in the evening, but Nakijin can. Saturday kicks off with bulls locking horns, followed by traditional song and dance, and then live shows from Morikiyo Maekawa and Akira Ikuma. Sunday brings back the chaos with mozuku-grabbing (imagine wet, slippery fun), karaoke battles, and live performances from Aimoco and the popular duo D-51.
📍Event Details
Location: Nakijin Village General Athletic Park | Google Pin
🎶 Full Schedule
August 23 (Sat)
🐂 16:00 – Bullfighting Tournament (Nakijin Village Bullring)
🎤 16:00 – Opening
💃 16:10 – Song & Dance Festival Part 1
💃 18:10 – Song & Dance Festival Part 2
🎶 19:35 – Morikiyo Maekawa
🎶 20:20 – Akira Ikuma
🎆 20:50 – Watermelon Fireworks
August 24 (Sun)
🚶 6:30 – Early Morning Health Walking
🪸 17:00 – Nakijin Mozuku Grabbing Contest
🏆 17:10 – Specialty Product Contest Awards
🎭 17:35 – Modern Kumiodori “Wind of Hokuzan”
🎤 18:10 – Greeting from the Festival Chairman
🎤 18:20 – Karaoke Contest
🎶 19:40 – Aimoco
🎶 20:15 – D-51
🎆 20:50 – Watermelon Fireworks
😎 Why You’ll Want to Be There
Because where else can you start your day catching seaweed with your bare hands and end it watching watermelon-shaped fireworks explode overhead? Add bullfighting, live music, and late-summer vibes, and Nakijin just made your August weekend plans for you.
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Disclaimer
⚠️Disclaimer: Our passion for supporting local businesses drives us to share information about events in the Okinawa area. Please note that Oki Social is not responsible for hosting this event. It’s important to be aware that the event’s host reserves the right to make changes or even cancel the event without prior notice. Some photos and videos may come from various sources on the internet, whether official or unofficial. It is possible that some photos and videos may have been taken from the same event in previous occurrences.
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