2026 Hirooka Summer Festival (広丘夏祭り): A Full-Day Course

A one-day course built around the Hirooka Summer Festival (広丘夏祭り) held on Friday, August 14, 2026, enjoying a historical walk through the Shiojiri and Matsumoto area. At midday you tour the reconstructed pit dwellings at Hiraide Ruins Park (平出遺跡公園) and connect with life in the distant past. In the afternoon you travel to neighboring Matsumoto City to visit the keep of the National Treasure Matsumoto Castle (松本城), then wander Nakamachi Street (中町通り) with its storehouse-style townscape while enjoying a snack. In the evening you return to the venue on the street in front of Hirooka Station (広丘駅前通り). Food stalls line the shopping street turned pedestrian zone, and lanterns inscribed with tanka poems glow in a row along the street lamps. It is a day plan unique to the Shiojiri and Matsumoto area, generously combining Jomon history, a castle town stroll, and a local summer festival.