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Event Information:
Fuji
Rock Festival is an annual rock
festival held in Naeba Ski Resort,
in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The 3
day event, organized by Smash Japan,
features more than 200 Japanese and
international musicians, making it
the largest outdoor music event in
Japan. In 2005, more than 100,000
people attended the festival. Fuji
Rock Festival is named so because
the first event in 1997 was held at
the base of Mount Fuji. Since 1999
the festival has been held at the
Naeba Ski Resort in Yuzawa, Niigata.
Lineup;
Friday: Stone Roses, Beady Eye, Ed
Sheeran, James Blake, The Gossip,
Los Lonely Boys, Owl City, The
Birthday, Boom Boom Satellites,
Humbert Humbert x Cool Wise Men, DJ
Kentaro, Mouse On The Keys.
Saturday: Buddy Guy, Elvin Bishop,
The Specials, Toots and the Maytals,
The D.O.T., Denki Groove,
Sakanaction, Spiritualized, Acidman,
Frontier Backyard, Hoshino Gen,
Fumio Ito, and Sean Kuti.
Sunday: Radiohead, At The Drive In,
Refused, Elvis Costello, Jack White,
James Iha, Tokiko Kato, A 100%
Solars, ALT+J, Cero, CHTHONIC
(sonic), and Loco Frank.
There
are seven main stages and other
minor stages scattered throughout
the site. The Green stage is the
main stage and it has a capacity for
almost 50,000 spectators. Other
stages include the White Stage, the
Red Marquee, Orange Court, and Field
of Heaven. The walks between some of
the stages can be long, and some of
the trails can be hilly, but the
walks are beautiful, often taking
you through forests and over
sparkling streams. Dragondola - the
longest gondola lift in the world,
carries festival goers up to the top
of the mountain overlooking the
festival site.
The hub of the site is called Oasis
where more than 30 food stalls from
around the world gather. The main
site closes each night after the
final act, but Oasis continues to
stay open until late at night, as
well as the Red Marquee where an
all-night rave continues until 5am.
The site re-opens at 9am. The night
before the festival (Thursday night)
features an opening party which is
free entry, featuring bon-odori
(traditional Japanese folk dance),
prize draws, food stalls and a
fireworks display. The festival's
stated aim is to be "The cleanest
festival in the world", and the
cleanliness of the site and
facilities, as well as the effort
put into recycling, is often
commented on.
Although Naeba, being a ski resort,
offers a number of accommodation
options such as hotels, ryokan and
minshuku within walking distance of
the festival site, competition for
these is fierce and they tend to
book out very quickly. Many festival
goers find accommodation in nearby
ski resorts such as Tashiro, Asagai
and Mitsumata - the free shuttle bus
linking JR Echigo-Yuzawa Station (in
the town of Yuzawa to the festival
site can be used for these areas
which are en route. Some even find
accommodation in the numerous
options available in Yuzawa itself.
The shuttle bus takes between 40
minutes to an hour each way and runs
until 2am each night.
Local
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