TAKASAKI, Gunma — This eastern Japan city, known as the birthplace of Boowy and other famous rock bands, will host its first major rock festival next year.
Takasaki City Rock Fes. 2024, a large-scale music event using three venues around Takasaki Station, will be held on June 22 and 23, 2024. Leading artists from the music scene and local amateurs will perform, and organizers expect a total of 30,000 people to attend.
The three venues — Takasaki City Theatre, G Messe Gunma and Takasaki Arena — are all located within around 1 kilometer of Takasaki Station. The executive committee, consisting of young local business owners, planned the event to promote the city, which has churned out a number of rock bands.
Takasaki City Theatre’s large hall, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people, will host a major artist’s live concert without openers as the festival’s main attraction, while the shows at the city theater’s Studio Theatre and G Messe Gunma venues will be held as part of “Kitasan Rolling,” a rock festival that tours three prefectures in the northern Kanto region for one year each. Local artists and young bands from clubs in the city will perform at Takasaki Arena.
The artists to perform in the festival will be announced in sequence after the turn of the year.
Takashi Kawanabe, chairperson of the executive committee, said, “It is rare nationally to have three large halls in the vicinity of a train station. We hope to create a lively atmosphere in the city through rock music.” Mayor Kenji Tomioka expressed his expectations for the project, commenting, “Takasaki is a city of music, and city of rock. I think it will be a great success.”
