Nagaoka Fireworks Festival

Nagaoka Festival is a festival held annually in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture. In particular, the large fireworks display held on the second and third days of the festival is counted as one of the "Three Great Fireworks Displays in Japan" and is famous nationwide. The origin of this festival is the "War Damage Reconstruction Festival" held on August 1, 1946, the year after the Nagaoka air raid on August 1, 1945, in hopes of recovery. However, the beginning of fireworks displays in Nagaoka dates back to before that. It is said to have been the first fireworks display in Nagaoka, held on September 14 and 15, 1879 (Meiji 12), at the Senjumachi Hachiman Shrine festival, where people related to the brothels in Nagahara and other areas pooled together funds to set off 350 fireworks. The "Phoenix Fireworks for Reconstruction" is a 10-inch fireworks display that has a trail of light in the shape of a phoenix in the center of the fireworks. Starmines, including this one, will be launched simultaneously from six launch points to the tune of Hirahara Ayaka's debut song "Jupiter." The launch will cover a width of about 2 kilometers. Many visitors come to see these fireworks, and it has become one of the most popular programs at the Nagaoka Festival.