Business overview
The Kyoto Student Festival is a student-produced festival that has been held every October since 2003 in the Heian Shrine and Okazaki Promenade area, planned and run by university students studying in the student town of Kyoto. It is backed by the “All Kyoto” system of Kyoto Prefecture, Kyoto City, economic organizations, universities, and the local community. In addition to planning and running the main festival in October, the Kyoto Student Festival Executive Committee is also involved in various activities throughout the year, such as participating in local events, exchange projects, and volunteer activities through the original dance “Kyoen Sodefure!”, and carrying out international exchange activities.
Theme of the 23rd Kyoto Student Festival
About the theme
The opening call of the Kyoto Student Festival’s original dance “Kyoen Sodefure!”, which will celebrate its 20th anniversary with the 23rd festival, means that “even the smallest things, like a sleeve brushing with a stranger on the street, or even a casual interaction with someone, do not happen by chance, but are all caused by deep fate.” We are grateful for the deep connections that the Kyoto Student Festival has made with the visitors, performers, sponsoring companies, and related organizations that we have met over the course of our 23 years of activities, and we aim to create a festival where the organizers and participants can work together to create the Kyoto Student Festival, creating a festival where everyone can feel a sense of unity. We also hope that the new encounters we make at the 23rd festival will be the fuel for the Kyoto Student Festival to continue for dozens of years to come, so we will continue to value our encounters and connections with each person and work hard to make our activities more meaningful.
The theme of the English version, “Every Encounter is Destiny,” is intended to help foreigners understand the meaning of “even a brush with a sleeve is a bond for many lives” and to help them learn about the Kyoto Student Festival.
What is Kyoen Sodefure!?
”Kyoen Sodefure!” is an original dance created for the Kyoto Student Festival, born from the 3rd Kyoto Student Festival, with the aim of creating a festival that people can enjoy not only by watching, but also by participating in. The dance is based on Kyoto-style music, choreography, and costumes, and involves holding four bamboo poles in the hands.
”Kyoen” is a dance that expresses the desire to “spread the burning passion of students from Kyoto to the whole country,” and also contains the meanings of “co-starring” and “competition.” “Sodefure” is derived from the phrase “Even a sleeve brushing is a bond for many lives.” The word “fure” is a combination of “friend” and “friend,” and the name expresses the hope of people interacting through dance.
Currently, there are 11 teams called “Kyoen Sodefure! Host Teams” at universities in Kyoto Prefecture, and each year, more than 800 university students belong to them. They work daily to enliven Kyoto and spread new student culture to the whole country and the world.
For more information on Kyoen Sodefure! and each host team, please see below.
https://www.kyoto-gakuseisaiten.com/sodefure/about-sodefure
https://www.kyoto-gakuseisaiten.com/sodefure/host-team
The 23rd Kyoto Student Festival
| schedule | Sunday, October 12, 2025 11:00-19:00 (scheduled) Heian Shrine and Okazaki Promenade area |
| Organizer | Kyoto Student Festival Executive Committee |
| Co-organized by | Kyoto Student Festival Organizing Committee ( Kyoto Prefecture / Kyoto City / Kyoto Chamber of Commerce and Industry / Kyoto Association of Corporate Executives / University Consortium Kyoto ) |
| Special Support | Heian Shrine |
Project Overview
Last year’s 22nd Kyoto Student Festival was held in person for the first time in five years under clear skies, and more than 120,000 people attended. The 23rd Kyoto Student Festival will have the theme of “Even a brush with someone’s sleeve will make a bond for many lifetimes,” and we hope to express our gratitude to all the visitors and other stakeholders that the Kyoto Student Festival has made over the past 23 years. We hope to create a space that will leave people of all ages and tastes smiling and saying, “I’m glad I came,” with the energy and cheerfulness that only students can provide. This year, in addition to the usual events, “Kyoen Sodefure! Contest,” “Kyoto Student Music Award,” “National Dance Performance,” and “Food Project,” we will also be holding events that the whole family can enjoy, including the “Kyoto Amusement Project.”
Check out the Kyoto Student Festival official YouTube channel for archived videos from last year’s festival !
[23rd Kyoto Student Festival Main Festival Contents] (tentative)
・Opening events, parades
・Kyoen Sodefure! Contest
・National Dance Performances
・Kyoto Student Music Award
・Food events
・Kyoto Amusement Events (experience-based events)
・Corporate and government booths
・Grand Finale events, etc.
Information on the main festival performer recruitment will be posted on the official website from time to time!
https://www.kyoto-gakuseisaiten.com/entry/
Pre-event
We will hold a pre-event that incorporates some of the main festival’s plans.
We will also have a booth that children can enjoy, so please come and visit us!
① Assault!! Kyoto Student Festival Traveling Edition in AEON Mall Kyoto Katsuragawa
Date and time: Saturday, May 10, 2025
Location: AEON Mall Kyoto Katsuragawa Bamboo Square
Contents: Kyoen Sodefure! Performance, stamp rally, lantern making, giant Jenga, giant Fukuwarai, Mother’s Day letter making, stamp rally card case making
Further details about pre-events in September will be announced on our official SNS accounts from time to time.
23rd Kyoto Student Festival Annual Activities Introduction
The Kyoto Student Festival Executive Committee communicates with the local people in Okazaki, where the Kyoto Student Festival is held, and with the local people who have been connected to us through our activities to date, conveying our gratitude to them and building cooperative relationships for the main festival. We will continue to carry out daily activities with the local community throughout the year, aiming to create a “festival” that is loved by the local community and has roots in the community, in addition to the main festival.
Dance performance and outreach classes
We are performing the Kyoto Student Festival’s original dance “Kyoen Sodefure!” in various places inside and outside Kyoto Prefecture.
We also give lectures (commonly known as “on-site classes”) at elementary, junior high, and support schools in Kyoto Prefecture, so that more people can experience the charm of Kyoen Sodefure! and the Kyoto Student Festival. By having university students interact with people of many generations in the community through dance, we also help revitalize the community.
Last year, we received many requests to perform at events to build momentum for the Osaka-Kansai Expo, local festivals and events, and for tourists from overseas. We also received many requests for on-site classes, mainly from schools that chose “Kyoen Sodefure!” as the event to perform at their sports day. This year, we are performing at many events, including at the Kyoto Hannaryz and at the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo on April 23rd.
Requests for dance performances and on-site classes are available at the following address.
https://www.kyoto-gakuseisaiten.com/sodefure/
Community Exchange
They participate as volunteer staff in local festivals and events, interacting with local people and children, and patrol the area at night once a month to ensure the safety of the Okazaki area where the main festival is held and to deepen ties with local people. In addition to aiming to revitalize the area, they are also working to make the Kyoto Student Festival known to more people in Kyoto by deepening ties with local people. Before the main festival, they also distribute promotional materials mainly on the streets of Kyoto City.
In addition, we will hold “Partner Networking Events” and “Let’s Talk in a Circle” as a place for interaction with sponsoring companies, providing opportunities for interaction between students and working adults and collaboration with sponsoring companies.
International Exchange
We are actively engaged in exchange activities with international students studying in Kyoto. We convey the charm of Kyoto to international students, and in turn, we learn various things from them, inspiring each other.
Last year, we held three international student exchange events and were able to deepen our interactions with about 80 international students. With the international students who participated in the international student exchange events, we carried the “Kyoen Mikoshi” together at the main festival and set up an international student booth. In addition, due to the connection that the Kyoto Student Festival performed at the “Kyoto Culture and Education Day in Hue” held in Hue Province, Vietnam in 2023, students from Hue University in Vietnam performed at the Grand Finale of the 22nd Kyoto Student Festival. We plan to hold international exchange events, including international student exchange events, this year as well.
environmental activities
In order to reduce the burden on the environment as much as possible, we have been carrying out “KYO-SENSE” activities since 2007. The word “KYO” contains the meanings of “Kyoto” and “today” as well as “cooperation” between local people and students. “SENSE” has the meaning of “the sensibility of young people living today” and the main focus is to learn and utilize Kyoto’s traditional wisdom. We are taking
environmentally friendly measures such as cleaning up the Okazaki area where the main festival is held and using environmentally friendly materials for original goods. At the 22nd Kyoto Student Festival, we participated in the “Gion Festival Zero Waste Operation” and took measures to prevent waste from increasing by using reusable tableware in the food planning on the day of the main festival and installing water dispensers.
We received the Special Award at the 2025 Kansai Business World Seminar Awards!
The Kansai Zaikei Seminar Award was established in 2005 with the aim of contributing to strengthening the competitiveness of the entire Kansai region and revitalizing the region, and recognizes “companies, organizations, and individuals in the Kansai region that have excellent technology and business models and are using their uniqueness to contribute to the revitalization of the region.” The Kansai Zaikei Seminar Award 2025 Special Award was awarded in recognition of the company’s efforts to respect the initiative of students who gather in Kyoto, support their activities through collaboration between industry, government, and academia, and give back to the local community through the youthful power and energy of students.
We are currently recruiting new executive committee members!
The Kyoto Student Festival is always looking for people to join us in our activities. Why not join us as an executive committee member and experience things you wouldn’t normally get to experience in a normal university setting? The committee also provides training, which will help you improve your basic social skills. We will continue to work to ensure that you can continue to learn so that you can use your activities as a Kyoto Student Festival executive committee member when you enter the workforce. For
more information about the Kyoto Student Festival and information about new student welcome events, please visit the official website and official SNS accounts.
Updated regularly!
Contact Information
The Consortium of Universities Kyoto, Public Interest Foundation Student Support Division
TEL 075-353-9189 FAX 075-353-9101
Campus Plaza Kyoto, Nishinotoin-dori Shiokoji-sagaru, Shimogyo-ku, Kyoto 600-8216
*Reception hours: Tuesday to Saturday 9:00-17:00 (excluding New Year’s holidays)
