Austrian beer & food this year! Lerch Festival” to be held on February 3 (Sat.) and 4 (Sun.)

2024.1.31

The Lerch Festival, a major winter event in Joetsu City, Niigata Prefecture, will be held again this year on February 3 (Sat.) and 4 (Sun.) at the Kanayasan Ski Resort in Onuki, Joetsu City.

The Lerch Festival is a major winter event in Joetsu City, held to pass on to future generations the achievements of Major Theodor von Lerch, a soldier of the Austro-Hungarian Empire who first introduced skiing technology to Japan.

This year again, at the Kintaniyama Ski Resort, there will be torchlight skiing and a music star mine on the first night, a single stick skiing demonstration and training sessions on the second day, as well as the “Lerch Stall Village” with a variety of local gourmet foods and popular restaurants from Joetsu, and stage events featuring local students and artists throughout the two days.

Last year, Austrian beer was sold at the event, and this year, in addition to beer, Austrian home-style food will also be sold. The beer will include brands such as “Edelweise,” “Afrigem Beer,” and “Tiger Beer,” and the food will be “Austrian-style sausage and sauerkraut stew.

In addition, a live performance by “coutesea,” an idol group from Niigata, one of whose members lives in Joetsu, will be held on the stage event on Sunday, the 4th. We hope you will enjoy this event as well.

On the day of the event, parking lots around the Kanayasan Ski Area will not be available. Please use free parking lots such as the Teramachi Parking Lot and the Fukushi Koryu Plaza Parking Lot, or other paid parking lots. Free shuttle buses will operate on four routes on both days: the Kanayasan patrol route, the Teramachi parking lot route, the Fukushi Koryu Plaza parking lot route, and the Takada Station route. Please use these routes.

In addition to the Kanaya-yama Ski Resort, various events will be held in Takada and Honmachi on the first day of the festival, Saturday, the 3rd. In addition to snow lanterns lined up under the arcades of Honmachi 3, 4, and 5-chome, there will also be the Honmachi Gachizuri Festival, the Takada Honmachi Picture Sign Festival, and Takada Honmachi Picture Sign Sugoroku.

Please check the Lerch Festival flyer or website for more details about the event.

Lerch Festival, 113th Anniversary of the Birth of Skiing in Japan
Date: Saturday, February 3, 12:00 – 19:30, Sunday, February 4, 9:30 – 15:00
Venues: Kanayasan Ski Resort, Takada Honmachi Shopping Street, etc.
Inquiries: TEL025-543-2777(Lerch Festival Executive Committee Secretariat), TEL025-520-5741 (Joetsu City Tourism Promotion Division)
Website: https://joetsukankonavi.jp/lerch-fest/