Chubu · NaganoCultural
One 700-yen badge worn on your shirt buys you unlimited puppet theatre across roughly a hundred venues in a single mountain city.
Overview
Iida Puppet Festa (いいだ人形劇フェスタ) is one of the largest puppetry gatherings in Japan. For four days at the end of July, halls, community centres, shops and public spaces across Iida City and the neighbouring towns and villages of southern Nagano all become venues.
Iida has an unusually deep puppetry tradition — the region is home to long-running folk puppet troupes — and the festival mixes those with contemporary companies from across Japan and abroad.
The badge system is what makes it work as a visitor experience: rather than buying tickets show by show, you buy one badge, wear it, and walk between venues watching whatever you find.
When and Where
The 2026 festa ran from 30 July to 2 August. Times vary by venue, with each running its own timetable; the organisers published the full 2026 programme on 25 June.
The headquarters and main venue is Iida Bunka Kaikan at 5-5-1 Takaba-cho, Iida City, Nagano Prefecture (telephone 0265-23-3552). Around 100 to 120 venues take part in total, spread across the city and nearby municipalities.
What to Expect
Much of the pleasure is in the drifting — you rarely know in advance what the next venue will be staging.
- Performances run at roughly 100 to 120 venues across Iida and neighbouring towns and villages.
- The organisers describe the festival theme as a triangle of watching, performing and supporting, built together.
- A single badge admits the wearer to any number of “wappen” performances at any venue for the whole festival.
- Some productions are designated paid performances and need a separate advance ticket.
- Showing the badge also unlocks perks and discounts at shops and facilities around Iida during the festival.
- Iida Bunka Kaikan serves as headquarters; the adjoining Iida Puppet Theatre is a permanent puppetry venue in the same complex.
Tickets and Admission
A 700-yen participation badge is required to watch performances, and covers unlimited wappen performances. Badges are needed from age three upwards, one per person. Sales for 2026 opened on 6 July.
Badges are non-refundable even if the festa is cancelled. Designated paid performances require a separate ticket on top of the badge.
Tips for Visitors
- Pick up the printed timetable at Iida Bunka Kaikan on arrival and plan a cluster of venues within walking distance rather than criss-crossing the city.
- Much of the work is visual and language-light, so a limited grasp of Japanese is far less of a barrier than at a spoken-theatre festival.
- Book accommodation early — Iida is a small city and the festival fills it.
- Buy separate tickets for any designated paid performance well ahead; the badge alone will not get you in.
Access and Map
| Dates | 30 July – 2 August 2026; times vary by venue |
|---|---|
| Venue | Iida Bunka Kaikan (headquarters) plus roughly 100–120 venues across Iida and neighbouring municipalities |
| Address | Iida Bunka Kaikan, 5-5-1 Takaba-cho, Iida City, Nagano |
| Access | About 10 minutes on foot from Iida Station (JR Iida Line); about 10 minutes by car from Iida IC on the Chuo Expressway |
| Admission | 700 yen participation badge (age 3 and up); separate tickets for designated paid performances |
| Official site | iida-puppet.com |
Source: Iida Puppet Festa Executive Committee
Image: Photo: Nankou Oronain / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 — license
