What's on in Kyoto
19 events in February 2027: 9 festivals, 4 gardens, 3 exhibitions, 2 anime and games events and 1 performance, from headline festivals to neighbourhood fairs. 11 of them are annual events whose 2027 dates are still to be confirmed, listed with their usual window.
Still cold, with highs around 10°C. Setsubun falls on 2 or 3 February, when Mibu-dera stages its silent kyogen plays. Kitano Tenmangu's plum grove starts to flower, and on the 25th geiko and maiko from Kamishichiken attend the Baikasai tea ceremony there. More on the season in Things to do in Kyoto.
MapWhat's on each day of February 2027, events starting that day first. Annual events still waiting for their 2027 dates aren't listed here.
「円山応挙と伊藤若冲」
Time 10:00 to 17:00 (last entry 16:30) Station Imadegawa (Karasuma Line), exit 3, 8 min walk
Okyo's Peony and Peacock (first half of the autumn period) and his Great Waterfall, over 3.6 m tall (second half), hang alongside all 50 of Jakuchu's ink panels from the great study room of Kinkaku-ji, where he shows what he could do without colour. It's closed for New Year from 27 Dec to 8 Jan.
663highland, CC BY 2.5 新春特集展示 ひつじづくし 干支を愛でる
Time 9:30 to 17:00, Fridays to 20:00 (last entry 30 minutes before) Station Shichijo (Keihan), 7 min walk
For 2027, the Year of the Sheep, the museum's New Year display gathers sheep in art from its collection, an animal rarely kept in Japan outside Hokkaido, so expect some oddities. A tea utensils feature runs at the same time, the ticket covers every gallery in the Heisei Chishinkan, and it's closed on Mondays (open 11 Jan), from 28 Dec to 1 Jan and on 12 Jan.
kajikawa, CC BY 3.0 忍劇「NARUTO-ナルト-」
Time 19:00 on 1 and 2 February, then 15:00 and 19:00, no shows on Mondays Station Gion-Shijo (Keihan Line), right outside exit 6
A long-run Naruto ninja show with no dialogue, so you don't need any Japanese: live action, acrobatics, aerial work and projection mapping, using every bit of stage machinery in Kyoto's old kabuki theatre. It follows Naruto's boyhood story in the Hidden Leaf Village and runs from February to June.
kajikawa, CC BY 3.0 梅苑「花の庭」公開（北野天満宮）
Station Kitano Tenmangu-mae bus stop (City Bus 50), right by the stop
The shrine has about 1,500 plum trees of 50 kinds, and it opens its plum garden, with a tea stall and a viewing deck, while they flower. Opening depends on the blossom, usually early February, and the garden stays open to late March.
z tanuki, CC BY 3.0 節分会（壬生寺）
Time 8:00 to 21:00 (4 February 9:00 to 19:00) Station Mibudera-michi bus stop (City Bus 26, 28)
Three days of Setsubun rites at the temple that guards Kyoto's southwest corner, with stalls and the silent Mibu Kyogen play Setsubun performed free on the hour from 17:00 to 20:00 on the 2nd and 3rd. You can buy an unglazed plate and write your family's ages and wishes on it, and it's smashed on stage at the spring and autumn kyogen.
Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert, CC BY 4.0 聖護院節分会
Time 9:00 to about 19:30, demon rite 13:00 on the 3rd Station Jingu-Marutamachi (Keihan Oto Line)
The Shinden hall, normally closed, opens free for the two days. On the 3rd mountain ascetics talk the demons round instead of chasing them out, and a big outdoor goma fire follows at 15:00.
663highland, CC BY-SA 4.0 節分祭（吉田神社）
Time Demon-chasing rite on the 2nd, fire festival on the 3rd Station Kyodai-seimon-mae bus stop (City Bus 201, 206)
About 500,000 people come over the three days, and about 800 stalls line the grounds on the 2nd and 3rd. On the 2nd a figure in a golden four-eyed mask chases red, blue and yellow demons round the dance stage in a Heian court rite, and on the 3rd old charms burn in a fire pit 4 m across.
Saigen Jiro, CC0 1.0 節分行事（平安神宮）
Time Kyogen 12:00, rite 14:00, bonfire from about 15:30 Station Okazaki Koen Bijutsukan Heian-jingu-mae bus stop (City Bus 5), 5 min walk
A Heian court demon-expelling rite at 14:00, then the demons come back through the Otenmon gate to dance, beans are thrown, and about 40,000 prayer sticks go on a bonfire. A free Okura school kyogen play opens the afternoon at 12:00.
Manish Prabhune, CC BY 2.0 追儺式鬼法楽（廬山寺）
Time From 15:00 Station Furitsu-Idai-Byoin-mae bus stop (City Bus 4, 17, 205)
Red, blue and black demons, one for each of the three poisons, dance into the hall and try to disrupt a fire ritual until beans and prayer drive them out. Rice cakes and beans are thrown from 16:00.
663highland, CC BY-SA 4.0 おかめ福節分会（千本釈迦堂）
Time Rites and bean throwing from about 15:00 Station Kamishichiken bus stop (City Bus 50, 55, 203)
Setsubun at the temple of Okame, the carpenter's wife whose advice saved the main hall: a kyogen demon-chasing play in which her good fortune makes the demons bow, then bean throwing with the actors and maiko.
Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert, CC BY-SA 4.0 思考する彫刻家 ラファエル・ザルカと堀内正和（仮称）
Time 10:00 to 18:00 (last entry 17:30), closed Mondays except 22 March and 3 May Station Higashiyama (Tozai Line), 8 min walk
The Paris sculptor Raphaël Zarka, known for sculpture you can skate on, shown with the Kyoto-born abstract pioneer Horiuchi Masakazu through finished works, sketches, notebooks and models. Zarka is researching at Villa Kujoyama and will show new pieces made there.
そらみみ, CC BY-SA 3.0 初午大祭（伏見稲荷大社）
Time From 8:00 Station Inari (JR Nara Line), right outside the station
On the first horse day of February the shrine marks the day its god first came down on Inariyama, and it's one of its busiest days. People come for the shirushi no sugi, a cedar sprig charm for business and the home.
Thomas CUELHO, CC BY 2.0 しだれ梅園の開園（三室戸寺）
Time 8:30 to 15:10 Station Mimurodo (Keihan Uji Line), 15 min walk
Mimuroto-ji in Uji opens its garden of about 250 red and white weeping plums for six weeks from mid February, the first of the temple's flower seasons. The garden is a steep climb up stairs, so allow time, and the dates can move with the blossom.
梅まつり（梅小路公園）
Time 10:00 to 15:00 Station Umekoji-Kyotonishi (JR Sagano Line)
For two weeks you can walk inside the park's plum grove, which is usually fenced off: about 150 trees of 14 varieties.
Tam0031, CC BY-SA 3.0 しだれ梅と椿まつり（城南宮）
Time 9:00 to 16:30 (last entry 16:00) Station Takeda (Karasuma Line, Kintetsu Kyoto Line), about 15 min walk
About 150 weeping plum trees flower in the Haru no Yama garden, with about 400 camellias of 150 kinds around them, and for a few days as the plums drop their petals the moss turns pink. A stall on the approach sells tsubaki-mochi, rice cakes wrapped in camellia leaves, during the festival.
663highland, CC BY 2.5 メダリスト展
Time 10:00 to 18:00, Fridays to 19:30 (last entry 30 min before) Station Karasuma Oike (Karasuma Line, Tozai Line), 3 min walk from exit 5
An exhibition on Tsurumaikada's figure skating manga Medalist, with new illustrations drawn for it, famous scenes from the manga, sets that recreate its world and picks from the TV anime. It fills the museum's third and fourth floor galleries.
Photograph by Mike Peel www.mikepeel.net., CC BY-SA 4.0 京都マラソン2027
Time Wheelchair race from 8:55, marathon from 9:00, course closes at 15:00 Station Higashiyama (Tozai Line), 10 min walk to the finish at Heian Jingu
About 16,000 runners set off from Takebishi Stadium at 9:00 and finish in front of Heian Jingu, passing near seven World Heritage sites on the way, Kinkaku-ji, Kamigamo and Ginkaku-ji among them. Roads along the course close for hours, so plan your sightseeing around it.
Manish Prabhune, CC BY 2.0 五大力尊仁王会（醍醐寺）
Time Men from 11:00, women from 13:00 Station Daigo (Tozai Line), 13 min walk from exit 2
In front of the Kondo hall, men try to hold up a 150 kg rice cake and women a 90 kg one for as long as they can. Entrants apply in advance, and you can watch.
Zairon, CC BY-SA 4.0 梅花祭（北野天満宮）
Time Tea ceremony 10:00 to 15:00 Station Kitano Tenmangu-mae bus stop (City Bus 50), right by the stop
On the anniversary of Sugawara no Michizane's death, Kamishichiken's geiko and maiko serve matcha at an outdoor tea ceremony in the plum garden. It's also the 25th, so the Tenjin-san market fills the approach.
z tanuki, CC BY 3.0 1000market（サウザンドマーケット）
Time 9:00 to 16:00 Station Gojozaka bus stop (City Bus 100, 206) or Kiyomizu-michi (207)
Kiyomizu-dera's own market on the 28th, the Fudo-son fair day, in the square in front of the gate, which you can walk into without a ticket. It started in April 2022 around traditional crafts, the environment and cutting food waste, and the stallholders are posted on Instagram.
ito1117, CC BY-SA 3.0 ガラクタ市（東寺）
Station Toji (Kintetsu Kyoto Line), 10 min walk
To-ji's smaller monthly market of antiques and handmade goods, held on the first Sunday rather than the big Kobo-ichi on the 21st.
平安蚤の市
Time 9:00 to 16:00 Station Higashiyama (Tozai Line), 10 min walk
More than 100 dealers in antiques and secondhand goods set up in Okazaki Park in front of Heian Shrine. Dates move from month to month and are often weekdays, and rain or storms cancel it, with the call posted the afternoon before.
Manish Prabhune, CC BY 2.0 平安楽市
Time 10:00 to 16:00 Station Higashiyama (Tozai Line), 10 min walk
A market of makers' own crafts and snacks in Okazaki Park, about once a month on dates the organiser posts, often on a weekday. In 2026 there was none in September or October, and the August one ran from 16:00 to 20:00.
Manish Prabhune, CC BY 2.0 百万遍さんの手づくり市
Time 8:00 to 16:00 Station Hyakumanben bus stop (City Bus 206), 1 min walk
Makers sell their own crafts, ceramics, clothes and food in Chion-ji's grounds on the 15th of each month. Places are allotted by lottery among applicants, and it runs in the rain.
Daderot, CC0 1.0 上賀茂手づくり市
Time 9:00 to 15:00 Station Kamigamo-jinja-mae bus stop (City Bus 4)
Stalls line the Nara-no-ogawa stream in Kamigamo Shrine's grounds, and everything is made by the seller, from jewellery, clothes and pottery to vegetables, baked sweets and bread. Check the organiser's dates, since a month with five Sundays can catch people out.
Kimon Berlin, CC BY-SA 2.0 天神市（北野天満宮）
Time 7:00 to sunset Station Kitano Tenmangu-mae bus stop (City Bus), 1 min walk
Kitano Tenmangu's market on the 25th, the date tied to Sugawara no Michizane's birth and death, is Kyoto's other big fair alongside To-ji's, strong on antiques, old tools and secondhand clothes. On market days the shrine buildings are lit after dark.
z tanuki, CC BY 3.0 弘法市（東寺）
Time About 5:00 to 16:00 Station Toji (Kintetsu Kyoto Line), 10 min walk
On the 21st of every month, Kukai's memorial day, about 1,200 to 1,300 stalls fill To-ji's grounds with antiques, old kimono and secondhand odds and ends, and about 200,000 people come. Most stallholders are dealers with shops elsewhere, it goes ahead in the rain, and stalls open from about 5:00, so come early if you're hunting for something.
京都アンティークフェア
Time 10:00 to 17:00 (last day to 16:00) Station Takeda (Karasuma Line, Kintetsu Kyoto Line), then the free shuttle bus from west exit 4
Over 300 dealers from all over Japan sell antiques and old art, furniture, paintings, Asian goods and Western antiques under one roof at Pulse Plaza, so the weather doesn't matter. Entry is free, and a free shuttle bus runs from Takeda Station.
天神市（北野天満宮）
Time All day, lanterns lit from sunset Station Kitano-Hakubaicho (Randen Kitano Line), 5 min walk
The 25th is Kitano Tenmangu's monthly fair day, and stalls line the approach all day. From sunset the shrine lights its 350 stone and 250 hanging lanterns, and 25 January and 25 December are the busiest of the year, with about a thousand stalls.
z tanuki, CC BY 3.0 弘法市（東寺）
Time 7:00 to 15:30 Station Toji (Kintetsu Kyoto Line), 6 min walk
Over 1,000 stalls fill To-ji on the 21st of every month, Kobo Daishi's memorial day, selling antiques, old tools, secondhand clothes and food to about 200,000 visitors. It runs in the rain, and the January market is Hatsu-Kobo.
梅小路公園手づくり市
Time 9:00 to 16:00 Station Umekoji-Kyotonishi (JR Sagano Line)
The sister market of the Hyakumanben one, with makers' stalls in Umekoji Park, and unlike at the temple you can bring a dog. It goes ahead in the rain.
Tam0031, CC BY-SA 3.0 梅小路公園手づくり市
Time 9:00 to 16:00 Station Umekoji-Kyotonishi (JR Sagano Line), 1 min walk
The sister market of Chion-ji's, run by the same team, sets up in Umekoji Park on the first Saturday of the month, with crafts and food sold by the people who made them. In May it joins the park's Green Fair on 3 and 4 May instead.
Tam0031, CC BY-SA 3.0 There are 19 events listed for February 2027 (9 festivals, 4 gardens, 3 exhibitions, 2 anime and games events and 1 performance). The big dates are Ninja Show NARUTO at Minamiza (1 Feb to 30 Jun), Setsubun at Shogo-in (2 to 3 Feb, dates to be confirmed), Setsubun at Mibu-dera (2 to 4 Feb, dates to be confirmed), Weeping Plum Garden at Mimuroto-ji (13 Feb to 28 Mar), Medalist Exhibition (20 Feb to 11 Apr) and Kyoto Marathon 2027 (21 Feb). 8 have confirmed dates and 11 are annual events whose exact 2027 dates are still to be announced, shown with the usual window. Every listing links to the interactive map.
9 festivals are listed for February 2027, among them Setsubun at Mibu-dera (2 to 4 Feb, dates to be confirmed), Setsubun at Shogo-in (2 to 3 Feb, dates to be confirmed), Setsubun Festival at Yoshida Shrine (2 to 4 Feb, dates to be confirmed), Setsubun at Heian Jingu (3 Feb, dates to be confirmed) and Okame Setsubun at Senbon Shakado (3 Feb, dates to be confirmed).
Yes. 8 of the 19 events listed for February 2027 are free to attend, including Setsubun at Mibu-dera (2 to 4 Feb, dates to be confirmed), Setsubun at Shogo-in (2 to 3 Feb, dates to be confirmed) and Setsubun Festival at Yoshida Shrine (2 to 4 Feb, dates to be confirmed).
Still cold, with highs around 10°C. Setsubun falls on 2 or 3 February, when Mibu-dera stages its silent kyogen plays. Kitano Tenmangu's plum grove starts to flower, and on the 25th geiko and maiko from Kamishichiken attend the Baikasai tea ceremony there.
Dated events are checked against the organiser's own page, and finished events drop off the page on their own. Annual events further out carry their usual dates until the official ones are published.