What's on in Kyoto
33 events in May 2027: 11 festivals, 10 exhibitions, 4 gardens, 3 performances, 2 illuminations, 2 food events and 1 anime and games 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.
Warm, with highs around 25°C. The Aoi Matsuri procession leaves the Imperial Palace at 10:30 on 15 May, and from May many restaurants on Pontocho's river side build their kawayuka platforms over the water. More on the season in Things to do in Kyoto.
MapWhat's on each day of May 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 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 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 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 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.
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 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 つつじ園の開園（三室戸寺）
Time 8:30 to 15:10 Station Mimurodo (Keihan Uji Line), 15 min walk
About 20,000 Hirado azaleas in purple, pink and white cover the slopes of the temple garden, usually at their best around Golden Week. The Kurume azalea garden, with about 10,000 bushes in four colours, opens a week earlier, from 10 to 25 April.
瑠璃光院 春の特別公開
Time 10:00 to 17:00 (last entry 16:30) Station Yase-Hieizanguchi (Eizan Railway)
The villa-style temple in Yase opens for spring, and the new maple leaves reflect in the polished desk tops.
KYOTOGRAPHIE 京都国際写真祭 2027
Time Hours and closing days vary by venue Station Karasuma Oike (Karasuma Line, Tozai Line)
A month of photography shows in machiya, galleries, museums and temples around the city, in exhibition spaces designed with architects and craftspeople. The 2027 theme, artists and venues are still to be announced.
稲荷祭（伏見稲荷大社）
Time Departure 14:00 on 18 April, return 14:00 to 16:00 on 3 May Station Inari (JR Nara Line), right outside the station
The shrine's five mikoshi leave at 14:00 on the Sunday nearest 20 April for the otabisho in Nishikujo, southwest of Kyoto Station, and come home on 3 May with 30-odd decorated vehicles in the procession, stopping at To-ji on the way.
Thomas CUELHO, CC BY 2.0 松尾祭 神幸祭・還幸祭（松尾大社）
Time Departure 11:00 on 25 April, return through the day on 16 May Station Matsuo-taisha-mae bus stop (City Bus 28), right by the stop
The shrine's mikoshi leave at 11:00 on a Sunday in late April, stop on the Katsura riverbank and spend three weeks at their otabisho in Nishishichijo before the return procession.
KENPEI, CC BY-SA 3.0 五重塔初層特別公開（東寺）
Time 8:00 to 17:00 (last entry 16:30) Station Toji (Kintetsu Kyoto Line), 10 min walk, or 15 min on foot from Kyoto Station
A month when you can step inside the ground floor of the five-storey pagoda: the central pillar stands for Dainichi Nyorai, with four Buddhas, eight bodhisattvas and mandalas painted on the pillars around it.
新緑ライトアップ（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
A second spring light-up over Golden Week, with the new leaves lit and the Kondo and Kodo halls open after dark.
壬生大念佛狂言 春の公開
Time 13:00 to 17:30, and 18:30 to 21:30 on 5 May Station Mibudera-michi bus stop (City Bus 26, 28)
Masked plays with no words, only gongs, drums and flute, performed by the temple's lay association for 700 years. Each day opens with Horokuwari, where a tower of the plates people wrote wishes on at Setsubun is pushed off the stage to smash.
Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert, CC BY 4.0 神護寺 虫払い行事 寺宝の特別公開
Time 9:00 to 16:00 Station Takao bus stop (JR Bus), 20 min walk
Once a year in fresh-green season the temple airs its treasures, including the National Treasure portrait long said to be Minamoto no Yoritomo, and opens the stone garden of its study hall.
Nankou Oronain, CC BY-SA 3.0 鴨川納涼床
Station Sanjo or Gion-Shijo (Keihan Line)
From 1 May the restaurants along the river in Kiyamachi, Pontocho and Saiseki serve on outdoor terraces looking across the Kamogawa to the Higashiyama hills, until 15 October. Some stop at the end of September, and breakfast, lunch and hours vary by restaurant.
Domenico Convertini, CC BY-SA 2.0 貴船の川床
Station Kibune bus stop (Kyoto Bus) from Kibuneguchi (Eizan Railway)
From May the inns and restaurants of Kibune set platforms just above the Kibune River, so you eat Kyoto cooking in the cool air of the valley with the stream running under you. About 15 places take part, and dates and hours vary by restaurant.
千本ゑんま堂大念佛狂言
Time Weekdays 19:00, holidays 12:00 and 18:00 Station Senbon-Kuramaguchi bus stop (City Bus 206), right by the stop
The only one of Kyoto's three nembutsu kyogen with spoken lines, so it's the easiest to follow, and plenty of the pieces are comic. Free.
Hyppolyte de Saint-Rambert, CC BY 4.0 流鏑馬神事（下鴨神社）
Time 13:00 to 15:30 Station Demachiyanagi (Keihan, Eizan Railway), about 10 min walk
Archers in court dress gallop down a 400 m track through the Tadasu no Mori forest and shoot at three wooden targets, a purification before the Aoi Matsuri.
Appie Verschoor, CC BY-SA 2.0 斎王代禊の儀
Time From 10:30 Station Kamigamo-jinja-mae bus stop (City Bus 4), right by the stop
The Aoi Matsuri's princess and her ladies in Heian dress dip their hands in the stream to purify themselves before the festival. Kamigamo and Shimogamo take turns to host it, and it was at Shimogamo in 2026.
Kimon Berlin, CC BY-SA 2.0 藤森祭（藤森神社）
Time Kakeuma at 13:00 and 15:00 Station JR Fujinomori (JR Nara Line), 5 min walk
On Children's Day riders gallop down the approach doing handstands and hiding along the horse's flank, battle tricks known as kakeuma. Mikoshi and kagura fill the rest of the day.
Naokijp, CC BY-SA 4.0 賀茂競馬（上賀茂神社）
Time Rite from 13:00, races from about 14:00 Station Kamigamo-jinja-mae bus stop (City Bus 4), right by the stop
Riders in bugaku costume race in pairs on the shrine's lawn, a court race moved here in 1093: the second horse starts a length behind and wins if it closes the gap. Viewing is paid. The trial runs that pick the pairs are on 1 May at about 13:00.
Kimon Berlin, CC BY-SA 2.0 鴨川をどり
Time 12:30, 14:20 and 16:10 Station Sanjo (Keihan Line), 5 min walk from exit 6
Pontocho's geiko and maiko in a dance drama and then a set of pure dance, in the 1927 Pontocho Kaburenjo by the river. First staged in 1872, it's been performed more times than any other Kyoto geisha show.
Mariemon, CC BY-SA 3.0 葵祭 路頭の儀
Time Leaves the palace 10:30, Shimogamo 11:40 to 14:20, Kamigamo about 15:30 Station Imadegawa or Marutamachi (Karasuma Line)
Over 500 people in Heian court dress, with 36 horses and 4 oxen pulling decorated carts, walk from the Imperial Palace to Shimogamo and on to Kamigamo, everything hung with hollyhock leaves. The Kyoto City Tourism Association sells reserved seats, and rain moves it to the next day.
DavideGorla, CC BY 2.0 三船祭（車折神社）
Time About 13:00 to 14:15 Station Arashiyama-koen bus stop (City Bus 28)
Kurumazaki Shrine recreates a Heian boating party on the river just above Togetsukyo, with a dragon-headed boat, fans floated on the water and bugaku dance from the decks.
Antonio Campoy, CC BY 2.0 御霊祭 還幸祭（上御霊神社）
Time Rite 11:30, procession from 13:00 Station Kuramaguchi (Karasuma Line)
Three mikoshi, an ox-drawn imperial cart and halberd floats tour the parish, and since 2009 the procession passes through the Imperial Palace park again. It's said to keep the oldest form of a goryo-e festival.
Naokijp, CC BY-SA 4.0 五月満月祭（鞍馬寺）
Time From 19:00 Station Kurama (Eizan Railway), 30 min walk up the mountain or by cable car
On the night of May's full moon everyone on the mountaintop holds up a candle together and prays for peace. Kurama-dera sets the date by the moon each year.
嵯峨祭 還幸祭
Time From 10:00, at Arashiyama Nakanoshima Park about 15:00 Station Saga-Arashiyama (JR Sagano Line), 10 min walk
The festival of the Atago and Nonomiya shrines: on its last day about 600 bearers carry the mikoshi round Saga and across Togetsukyo, behind halberd floats and a children's procession. The mikoshi come out to the otabisho a week earlier.
Mti, CC BY-SA 3.0 ギルバート＆ジョージ展
Time 10:00 to 18:00 (last entry 17:30), closed Mondays unless a holiday Station Higashiyama (Tozai Line), 8 min walk
Japan's first big Gilbert & George show in 30 years, from the 1969 film of their Singing Sculpture to the huge recent photo pictures. Photos and films from their 1970s visits to Japan are planned too.
そらみみ, CC BY-SA 3.0 あじさい園の開園（三室戸寺）
Time 8:30 to 15:10 (gates close at 16:00) Station Mimurodo (Keihan Uji Line), 15 min walk
About 20,000 hydrangeas flower among the cedars of the temple's garden from the end of May into July. On Saturdays and Sundays from 12 to 27 June the garden is lit up from 19:00 to 21:00 too, on a separate ticket.
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 33 events listed for May 2027 (11 festivals, 10 exhibitions, 4 gardens, 3 performances, 2 illuminations, 2 food events and 1 anime and games event). The big dates are Maruyama Okyo and Ito Jakuchu (17 Oct to 20 Jun), Ninja Show NARUTO at Minamiza (1 Feb to 30 Jun), Fresh Green Light-up at To-ji (28 Apr to 10 May, dates to be confirmed), Aoi Matsuri (15 May, dates to be confirmed), Gilbert & George (26 May to 29 Aug) and Hydrangea Garden at Mimuroto-ji (29 May to 4 Jul). 7 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.
11 festivals are listed for May 2027, among them Inari Matsuri (18 Apr to 3 May, dates to be confirmed), Matsuo Matsuri (25 Apr to 16 May, dates to be confirmed), Saio-dai Purification Rite (4 May, dates to be confirmed), Fujinomori Matsuri (5 May, dates to be confirmed) and Aoi Matsuri (15 May, dates to be confirmed).
Yes. 8 of the 33 events listed for May 2027 are free to attend, including Inari Matsuri (18 Apr to 3 May, dates to be confirmed), Matsuo Matsuri (25 Apr to 16 May, dates to be confirmed) and Aoi Matsuri (15 May, dates to be confirmed).
Warm, with highs around 25°C. The Aoi Matsuri procession leaves the Imperial Palace at 10:30 on 15 May, and from May many restaurants on Pontocho's river side build their kawayuka platforms over the water.
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.