Hakata Dontaku Festival Route — Japan's Biggest Spring Festival

The Hakata Dontaku Minato Matsuri, held every May 3–4, draws 2 million people to Fukuoka's streets — one of the largest attendance figures for any festival in Japan. The parade involves 30,000 performers representing every neighborhood, professional guild, and cultural organization in the city. The festival's name comes from the Dutch 'zondag' (Sunday holiday), entering the local vocabulary during the trading period when Dutch ships anchored in Hakata Bay.