Tanto Tulip Festival

Every spring, the quiet farming town of Tanto in Hyogo Prefecture transforms into a vivid sea of color during the Tanto Tulip Festival. Located just a 30-minute drive from central Toyooka City, Tanto Flower Park. The festival features more than a million tulips in over 300 varieties arranged in creative, large-scale displays across the landscape.

What began in 1992 as a way for local tulip farmers to celebrate their town has grown into one of the region’s most beloved seasonal attractions, drawing around 70,000 visitors each year. Guests can stroll through vast flower fields, snap photos of giant tulip mosaics and even take home a piece of spring. For those coming from out of town, it’s easy to pair the trip with a visit to nearby Kinosaki Onsen, creating a perfect spring getaway that blends nature, tradition and local culture.

Tanto Tulip Festival

Photo by: PIXTA/ 自由人 Daruma flower art

The festival’s main attraction is the Flower Art display, a large mosaic made from around 100,000 tulips. Since 1994, local residents have designed and planted each piece with care, often choosing familiar characters from Japanese pop culture. In past years, designs have included Astro Boy, Hello Kitty and Crayon Shin-chan. These bold, colorful creations are a major draw for visitors. Beyond the mosaic, tulips in every color and form fill the Tanto Flower Park, creating an immersive landscape. From classic reds and yellows to unique striped, fringed and double-flowered types, each bed is labeled so you can learn more about the flowers on display. The scale, precision and community spirit behind the displays make this one of the most exciting spring events in Hyogo.

Festival Activities

Photo by: PIXTA/ lavender Bring home a tulip or two!

While the tulip fields and flower art are the main draw, the festival also offers hands-on activities, such as tulip picking, where visitors can select and take home fresh-cut flowers directly from the fields. Potted tulips are also available for purchase, making it easy to bring a bit of spring back home.

A local bazaar showcases specialty foods and goods from the surrounding area and there’s a photo contest open to visitors looking to capture their favorite scenes. For a break between exploring the fields, visitors can grab a bite to eat and something to drink from one of the food trucks. The festival is very family-friendly, with open pathways and wide spaces perfect for strollers or wheelchair users. Pets are welcome as long as they’re on a leash, so it’s common to see visitors enjoying the festival with their dogs.