Festivals · Tohoku
Soma Nomaoi
相馬野馬追
A thousand-year-old cavalry festival of armoured horsemen racing and scrambling for sacred flags in the Soma plain.
Expected window
- Dates
- Sat 29 to Mon 31 May 2027
- Date status
- Expected window, from the previous edition or tradition. Not yet confirmed.
- Venue
- Hibarigahara Festival Grounds, Minamisoma, and Soma
- City
- Minamisoma
- Prefecture
- Fukushima
- Region
- Tohoku
- Category
- Festivals
- When it runs
- Last Saturday to Monday of May (moved from July in 2024)
- Checked
- Fri 23 Oct 2026 against the official source
About this event
The Soma Nomaoi, an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property with over 1,000 years of history, sends hundreds of armoured samurai horsemen through the Soma region for the armoured horse race, the sacred flag competition and the Nomakake horse-catching rite. Moved from July to late May in 2024 after horses died in the summer heat, it now runs on the last Saturday, Sunday and Monday of May (23 to 25 May in 2026); the 2027 edition is expected on 29 to 31 May.
Booking
Booked around the event: hotels, passes, transfers and eSIM. Booking links for this event are added after the product checks pass.
Official source: http://soma-nomaoi.jp/. Dates checked Fri 23 Oct 2026.