Fuji Rock Festival ’24 Kicks Off with Over 200 Artists; Japan’s Mega Music Festival Celebrates 25th Anniversary at Naeba Ski Resort

The Japan News
The entrance gate to Fuji Rock Festival at Naeba Ski Resort in Yuzawa, Niigata Prefecture, is seen on Friday.
The Japan News
Festivalgoers are seen in a lit-up space on Thursday night ahead of Fuji Rock Festival ’24 at Naeba Ski Resort in Yuzawa, Niigata Prefecture.

Fuji Rock Festival ’24 kicked off Friday at Naeba Ski Resort in Yuzawa, Niigata Prefecture, with more than 200 artists from Japan and overseas in the lineup.

The annual three-day festival, scheduled to be held through Sunday, is one of the largest outdoor music events in Japan, attracting tens of thousands of festivalgoers each day.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the festival taking place at Naeba Ski Resort. The event was originally held near Mt. Fuji in Yamanashi Prefecture in 1997, thus being named Fuji Rock. However, it has been held at the Niigata Prefecture resort since 1999.

More than 10 stages of various sizes are set up across four kilometers of the ski resort’s highland hills.

Artists from various genres are expected to take the stage, including such international artists as The Killers, Kraftwerk, Peggy Gou, Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds and Teddy Swims, as well as Japanese artists including Awich, Hiromi Uehara, 10-Feet and Rimi Natsukawa.

In addition to seeing live performances, people at the event can soak in a little nature as well by taking a walk in the woods or a dip in a crystal clear river. Many food and beverage stands, as well as art installations, are set up across the large venue, providing entertainment for festivalgoers of all ages.

The Japan News
Top: People enjoy live performance in front of the largest Green Stage at Fuji Rock Festival in Niigata Prefecture on Friday. Down: People relax and enjoy music in the woods at Fuji Rock Festival on Friday.