Summer in Niigata

Around this time of the year, there is one thing that I always regret.

“I should have booked a tour for Nagaoka fireworks display.”

When a friend of mine told me that she got a one-day tour ticket for the festival, I was so vexed. I totally forgot about making a reservation for the event again.

The fireworks display in Nagaoka in Niigata prefecture is the largest and most beautiful one in the country and it’s going to be held between 1 and 3 of August this year. The tour tickets with a reserved seat for the fireworks are, as I imagined, already sold out. It’s a shame not to see the spectacle at least once in a lifetime. I definitely see it next year.

I gave up the plan of going to Nagaoka but there is another event in Niigata this summer. It’s Echigo Tsumari Art trianale. It’s an international art festival that was started in 2000 for animating the local area with the power of arts. Nearly 360 art pieces are displayed in Tokamachi and Tsunanmachi, which are both depopulated villages and are buried in heavy snow in winter.

The artists form various regions in the world are staying in the villages, interacting with local people and making their pieces that are rooted in the local history and culture. The project helps villager, artists and visitors get reminded of the beauty of the local people’s life style, which is all about missing as we speak.

The one I’m looking forward to seeing is James Turrell. His “light house” was built on the base of an old farmer’s house in Echigo Tsumari and we can appreciate both modern art and traditional lifestyle in a primary image of local landscape that we oftentimes come across.

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