What's on in Kyoto
32 events in March 2027: 8 exhibitions, 7 gardens, 6 festivals, 6 illuminations, 2 anime and games events, 2 performances and 1 food event, from headline festivals to neighbourhood fairs. 26 of them are annual events whose 2027 dates are still to be confirmed, listed with their usual window.
Kitano Tenmangu's plums carry on into March. The cherry trees usually open in the last week (the Meteorological Agency's average for Kyoto is 26 March), so if you're coming in late March, you're betting on the forecast. More on the season in Cherry blossoms in Kyoto.
MapWhat's on each day of March 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 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 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 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 春の人形展（宝鏡寺）
Time 10:00 to 16:00 (last entry 15:30) Station Horikawa Teranouchi bus stop (City Bus 9), right by the stop
The imperial convent known as the doll temple shows dolls Emperor Komei treasured among its Kyoto dolls each spring, and the show opens on 1 March with a hina matsuri ceremony in the main hall at 11:00. Its other doll show is in November.
修二会（東大寺二月堂）
Time Torches every evening Station Kintetsu-Nara (Kintetsu Nara Line)
Eleven monks hold a two-week repentance rite at Nigatsu-do, held every year without a break since 752, and each night huge torches are lit to light their way up to the hall. The water-drawing rite that gives it its name is at about 1:30 in the small hours of 13 March.
春桃会（三十三間堂）
Time 9:00 to 15:30 Station Hakubutsukan Sanjusangendo-mae bus stop (City Bus 206, 208), right by the stop
On 3 March, a day of threes at the hall of 33 bays, entry is free and the Ikenobo school offers flowers. You can view the 1,000 Kannon statues from a raised platform, and a women's peach charm (¥1,000) is sold that day only.
Olivier Bruchez, CC BY-SA 2.0 流し雛（下鴨神社）
Time From 10:30, the floating at about 11:00 Station Shimogamo-jinja-mae bus stop (City Bus 4, 205)
A man and woman dressed as Heian dolls float small dolls on straw mats down the Mitarashi stream to carry away bad luck, and afterwards you can float one yourself (the mats are sold).
Appie Verschoor, CC BY-SA 2.0 春の夜間特別拝観（高台寺）
Time 17:00 to 21:30 (gates close 22:00) Station Higashiyama Yasui bus stop (City Bus 206), 7 min walk
Hideyoshi's widow Nene's temple lights its garden for spring evenings: the Garyu pond and the bamboo grove past the Kasa-tei and Shigure-tei tea houses are the ones to see. You follow the same route as by day.
Tetsuhiro Terada, CC BY 2.0 伏見 酒フェス
Time Five sessions between 9:40 and 17:20 Station Fushimi-Momoyama (Keihan Line), 8 min walk
Fushimi's new-sake tasting day: 18 local breweries pour at the Gekkeikan brewery in timed sessions, with food stalls, and a dozen breweries open their doors around town the same day. Book ahead, and under-20s can't enter even with a parent.
涅槃会・国宝三門と龍吟庵特別公開（東福寺）
Time 9:00 to 16:00 (last entry 15:30) Station Tofukuji (JR Nara Line), about 14 min walk
For the Buddha's death anniversary the main hall hangs Mincho's huge Nirvana painting, about 12 m by 6.5 m, with a life-size cat in it, free to see. The National Treasure Sanmon gate and the Ryogin-an subtemple open the same three days for ¥1,000 each.
Kimon Berlin, CC BY-SA 2.0 夜桜ライトアップ・金堂講堂夜間特別拝観（東寺）
Time 18:00 to 21:30 (last entry 21:00) Station Toji (Kintetsu Kyoto Line), 10 min walk, or 15 min on foot from Kyoto Station
The five-storey pagoda, Japan's tallest wooden tower, is lit with the Fuji-zakura weeping cherry beside it, and the Kondo and Kodo halls open at night. It's a 15-minute walk from Kyoto Station.
青龍会（清水寺）
Time About 14:00 to 15:30 Station Gojozaka bus stop (City Bus 100, 206) or Kiyomizu-michi (City Bus 207)
An 18 m blue dragon leads a procession in ceremonial robes from the Okunoin past the Otowa waterfall and down into the shops of the approach, then back up through the Niomon gate to the main hall. You can watch it free from the street.
ito1117, CC BY-SA 3.0 涅槃会とお松明式（清凉寺）
Time Kyogen from 15:30, torches about 20:00 Station Saga-Shakado-mae bus stop (City Bus 28), 2 min walk
Three giant torches are lit in front of the main hall around 20:00 to recall the Buddha's cremation. Before that, from 15:30, you can watch Saga Dainembutsu Kyogen, one of Kyoto's three nembutsu kyogen, masked plays without words, for free.
Mti, CC BY-SA 3.0 二条城桜まつり
Time 8:45 to 17:00 (last entry 16:00), light-up 18:00 to 22:00 Station Nijojo-mae (Tozai Line), right outside the station
About 300 cherry trees of 50 kinds flower in turn through the festival. By day there's a stamp rally and a fair of Kyoto products, and the evening light-up runs on its own ticket.
Pom', CC BY-SA 2.0 醍醐寺霊宝館 春期特別展
Time 9:00 to 17:00 (last entry 16:30) Station Daigo (Tozai Line), 12 min walk
Timed for the cherry season, the museum shows part of Daigo-ji's 100,000 treasures under a new theme each year, and you can see the cherries in its grounds too. In 2026 the theme was gold and Hideyoshi's dream, with a gold tea bowl said to be his gift.
Zairon, CC BY-SA 4.0 銀閣寺 春の特別拝観 国宝東求堂
Time Tours at 10:00, 11:00, 12:00, 13:30, 14:30 and 15:30 Station Ginkakuji-michi bus stop (City Bus 5, 7, 203)
A guided 30-minute visit inside the main hall and the Togudo, whose four-and-a-half-mat study, Dojinsai, is seen as the starting point of tea, flower arranging and incense. Groups are capped and you can't take photos.
Reginald Pentinio, CC BY 2.0 北野をどり
Time 14:00 and 16:30 (doors open an hour before) Station Kitano Tenmangu-mae bus stop (City Bus 50, 51, 55, 203), 3 min walk
Kamishichiken, Kyoto's oldest geisha district, opens the spring dance season in the Kamishichiken Kaburenjo, a Japanese-style theatre that's not normally open to the public. Each show runs about 90 minutes.
mrhayata, CC BY-SA 2.0 春の特別公開 宝物館（東寺）
Time 9:00 to 17:00 (last entry 16:30) Station Toji (Kintetsu Kyoto Line), 10 min walk, or 15 min on foot from Kyoto Station
The treasure hall opens for a spring exhibition from To-ji's collection, built round a new theme each year. In 2026 it was To-ji in the Muromachi period, with its estates and documents.
桜ライトアップ（円山公園）
Time 18:00 to 22:00 Station Gion bus stop (City Bus 206), right by the stop
The park's big weeping cherry, Gion no Yozakura, is lit every evening through the blossom. The tree is the second generation, tended by the 16th Sano Toemon.
lienyuan lee, CC BY 3.0 知恩院 春のライトアップ
Time 17:45 to 21:30 (last entry 21:00) Station Chion-in-mae bus stop (City Bus 206), 5 min walk
The National Treasure Sanmon gate, one of Japan's largest wooden two-storey gates, and the Yuzen-en garden are lit for the cherry season.
Christian Kadluba, CC BY-SA 2.0 京都御所 春の特別公開
Time 9:00 to 15:50 (out by 16:30) Station Imadegawa (Karasuma Line), 5 min walk from exit 6
Five days of extra displays in the palace. In 2026 they were the Takamikura throne in the Shishinden (seen from the south court), the dressing of a twelve-layer court robe, and gagaku or kemari kickball in the mornings. Entry is free with no booking, and staff give guided walks in Japanese and English.
DavideGorla, CC BY 2.0 春の特別拝観（相国寺）
Time 10:00 to 16:30 (last entry 16:00) Station Imadegawa (Karasuma Line), 8 min walk
The Hatto hall opens with Kano Mitsunobu's crying dragon painted on its ceiling, along with the abbot's quarters and the founder's hall.
663highland, CC BY-SA 4.0 祇園白川宵桜ライトアップ
Time 18:00 to 22:00 Station Gion bus stop (City Bus 206), 5 min walk
The cherries over the Shirakawa canal are lit from Kawabata-dori to Tatsumi bridge, about 220 m, with lanterns along the lane past the old teahouses.
mrhayata, CC BY-SA 2.0 清水寺 春の夜間特別拝観
Time Open to 21:30 (last entry 21:00) Station Gojozaka bus stop (City Bus 100, 206) or Kiyomizu-michi (City Bus 207)
The temple stays open to 21:30 while its 1,500 or so cherries are out, and a blue beam of light from the grounds shines out over the city. No booking needed.
ito1117, CC BY-SA 3.0 御室花まつり（仁和寺）
Time 8:30 to 17:30 (last entry 30 min before) Station Omuro-Ninnaji (Randen), about 3 min walk
Ninna-ji's Omuro cherries, a protected Place of Scenic Beauty, are at their best in early to mid April, with azaleas and then new maple leaves after them. The grounds charge a special entry fee during the festival.
josef knecht, CC BY 3.0 京都府庁旧本館 観桜祭
Time 10:00 to 17:00, light-up 18:00 to 20:00 to 5 April Station Marutamachi (Karasuma Line), 10 min walk
Seven cherries fill the courtyard of the old prefectural office, an Important Cultural Property, among them a grandchild of Maruyama Park's first weeping cherry and the rare Katamori-zakura. It's lit up in the evenings for the first week.
J o, CC BY-SA 3.0 はねず踊りと今様（隨心院）
Time 11:00, 12:30, 13:30 and 15:00 Station Ono (Tozai Line), 5 min walk
Girls in pink costumes dance the story of Ono no Komachi and the suitor who tried to visit her 100 nights running, among the temple's hanezu plum trees. It's on the last Sunday of March.
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 32 events listed for March 2027 (8 exhibitions, 7 gardens, 6 festivals, 6 illuminations, 2 anime and games events, 2 performances and 1 food event). The big dates are Cherry Blossom Light-up at To-ji (14 Mar to 12 Apr, dates to be confirmed), Nijo Castle Cherry Blossom Festival (19 Mar to 19 Apr, dates to be confirmed), Cherry Blossom Light-up at Maruyama Park (24 Mar to 8 Apr, dates to be confirmed), Chion-in Spring Light-up (25 Mar to 5 Apr, dates to be confirmed) and Gion Shirakawa Cherry Blossom Light-up (27 Mar to 5 Apr, dates to be confirmed). 6 have confirmed dates and 26 are annual events whose exact 2027 dates are still to be announced, shown with the usual window. Every listing links to the interactive map.
6 festivals are listed for March 2027, among them Omizutori (Shuni-e) at Todai-ji (1 to 14 Mar, dates to be confirmed), Shuntoe Peach Festival at Sanjusangendo (3 Mar, dates to be confirmed), Nagashibina Doll Floating at Shimogamo Shrine (3 Mar, dates to be confirmed), Nehan-e and Sanmon Opening at Tofuku-ji (14 to 16 Mar, dates to be confirmed) and Seiryu-e Blue Dragon Procession at Kiyomizu-dera (March) (15 Mar, dates to be confirmed).
Yes. 8 of the 32 events listed for March 2027 are free to attend, including Shuntoe Peach Festival at Sanjusangendo (3 Mar, dates to be confirmed), Cherry Blossom Light-up at Maruyama Park (24 Mar to 8 Apr, dates to be confirmed) and Gion Shirakawa Cherry Blossom Light-up (27 Mar to 5 Apr, dates to be confirmed).
Kitano Tenmangu's plums carry on into March. The cherry trees usually open in the last week (the Meteorological Agency's average for Kyoto is 26 March), so if you're coming in late March, you're betting on the forecast.
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.