Kyoto's autumn calendar is about to get considerably stranger. Kyoto YOKAI Festival 2026 opens at Uzumasa Kyoto Village on Saturday 12 September and runs until Sunday 29 November 2026, turning the film-set streets into a seasonal celebration of Japan's supernatural folklore.

The headline programme is “Dance with YOKAI! Dancing Hyakki Yagyo”, an interactive take on the legendary night parade of one hundred demons. The official event page describes a lively dance party built around clapping and easy arm movements, rather than a show where visitors simply stand behind a barrier. It is the third year of the festival, and the 2026 version leans hard into participation.

Quick take: choose the exact day before buying anything, because the park has six closed dates during the festival and individual programmes vary. Ordinary park admission is enough to watch the YOKAI parade; special tickets add merchandise, evening entry or repeat visits. Costume participation is a separate, advance-screened process with no registration on the day.

The dates — including the closures people may miss

The festival period is 12 September to 29 November 2026. However, Uzumasa Kyoto Village says the park will be closed on 15 and 29 September and 6, 13, 20 and 27 October. Do not assume every Tuesday inside the overall date range is an event day.

The official page also lists selected dates for a yokai-themed guided bus excursion, while its “Yokai Summit” section is still marked coming soon. That makes the live event page essential. Treat the festival dates as the window, then verify the programme attached to your chosen day before committing to a train or special ticket.

What the 2026 festival actually is

Yokai is a broad term for supernatural beings, phenomena and characters in Japanese folklore. Translating every yokai as a ghost or monster flattens a much richer tradition: some are frightening, some comic, some mischievous and some difficult to fit into a neat English category.

Uzumasa Kyoto Village is approaching that tradition as themed entertainment. Its Edo-period streets and working-studio atmosphere give the parade a theatrical backdrop, while the main dance programme invites visitors to join simple choreography. This is not a shrine ritual or an academic folklore exhibition, and travellers should not present it as one. It is a modern festival inspired by stories associated with Kyoto and wider Japanese culture.

The official event page says the YOKAI parade can be watched regardless of which of its three listed ticket types you hold. That is useful because it means the merchandise bundle or repeat-entry pass is not automatically required for the core spectacle.

Ticket options in plain English

The park lists three main choices for the festival period:

  • Standard park admission: adults aged 13 and over pay ¥2,800 for a one-day ticket from 10:00; children aged three through elementary-school age pay ¥1,600. Night tickets from 17:00 are ¥2,000 for adults and ¥1,300 for children.
  • Admission with festival merchandise: one-day tickets cost ¥3,800 adult and ¥2,600 child; night tickets cost ¥3,000 adult and ¥2,300 child. The official page says the bundle includes a bilingual YOKAI pamphlet and one randomly selected event postcard.
  • Festival event pass: the all-period pass is ¥5,500 for adults and ¥3,100 for children, and is valid across the festival period. It is personal, non-transferable and subject to identity verification.

Those prices are the park's published figures at the time of writing. Tickets can be bought online, and the park says they go on sale three months before the intended visit date. Check the official page immediately before purchase because programme details, operating times and availability can change.

The event pass becomes good value only if you genuinely plan to return. One adult standard day ticket plus one adult night ticket on separate visits already totals ¥4,800, while two ordinary day visits total ¥5,600. If your Kyoto itinerary has room for only one outing, buy the ticket that fits that outing instead of paying for theoretical flexibility.

Costumes need advance approval

Watching and dancing along as an ordinary visitor is not the same as joining in costume. The festival's costume-participation rules require an advance application and screening of the proposed outfit. Numbers are limited and there is no registration on the day.

If dressing as a yokai is the reason for your visit, read the current rules before making or packing anything. Do not arrive in an elaborate costume and expect the gate team to improvise permission. Costume participation itself may be free, but normal park admission still applies, and the screening process exists separately from ticket purchase.

Getting to Uzumasa Kyoto Village

The park is in western Kyoto at 10 Higashi Hachiokacho, Uzumasa, Ukyo Ward. Its official access page lists two entrances:

  • Main Entrance: about five minutes on foot from Randen Uzumasa Koryuji Station, 13 minutes from JR Hanazono Station or 14 minutes from Subway Uzumasa Tenjingawa Station.
  • Satsueisho Entrance: about two minutes from Randen Satsueisho-mae Station or five minutes from JR Uzumasa Station. The park notes that entry through this gate is allowed until 17:00 and exit until 18:00.

For most visitors, the best route depends on where the day begins. Randen can fit naturally with an Arashiyama itinerary; JR can be simpler from Kyoto Station; the subway plus Randen may suit travellers already in central or northern Kyoto. Use the park's access page and live journey planner rather than choosing a station by name alone.

How I would fit it into a Kyoto day

I would not try to force Uzumasa between three eastern-Kyoto temples. The park is west of the centre, so it makes more sense as the main event of the day or as a deliberate companion to Arashiyama and the Randen corridor.

For a daytime visit, start at opening, explore the film-set streets and attractions, then stay for the festival programme that applies to your date. For a night-ticket visit, keep the afternoon nearby and arrive with enough margin to find the correct entrance. A late arrival is especially risky if you have confused the Satsueisho Entrance's 17:00 entry cut-off with the broader evening event period.

September in Kyoto can still feel hot and humid; November evenings can be genuinely cool. Check the forecast, wear shoes suited to standing and walking on outdoor set streets, and carry a light layer later in the season. If young children dislike masks, loud sound or theatrical creatures, preview the official imagery and programme before promising a gentle character parade.

Five checks before you go

  1. Confirm the park is open. Compare your date with the six published closures.
  2. Read that day's programme. The festival runs for weeks, but not every component operates identically every day.
  3. Choose the ticket for your real plan. Standard admission is enough to watch the parade; upgrades serve specific purposes.
  4. Apply ahead for costume participation. Ticket purchase does not replace screening.
  5. Plan the station and entrance together. The nearest stop is not useful if it sends you to the wrong gate at the wrong time.

Kyoto's most famous autumn images tend to be quiet: maple leaves, temple gardens and moonlit ponds. Kyoto YOKAI Festival offers the opposite kind of night — theatrical, noisy and intentionally playful. That contrast is precisely why it could earn a place in an autumn itinerary, provided you plan the date and ticket rather than treating the long festival window as a promise that everything happens every evening.

My planning rule: pick the date first, check the programme second, then buy the least complicated ticket that covers what you actually want to do. Save the elaborate costume for visitors who have completed the advance screening.

Official sources checked

Cheers, Carpe Diem & dance with the night parade! 🍻⏳👺
TATS Man
Your Kyoto yokai-date-and-ticket-checking mate