Popular Festival Songs Ranking [2025]

Awa Odori (Awa Dance Festival)57rank/position

A must-see for Awa Odori fans! The Tokushima City Awa Odori Grand Dance!! The dancers’ smiles are wonderful! Awa Odori in Tokushima, Japan

When it comes to Tokushima’s Awa Odori, it can be said to be one of Japan’s most iconic festivals.

A major attraction is the vibrant festival music played on traditional instruments known as narimono, such as flutes, drums, and shamisen.

This Awa Odori music is also incorporated into many Bon Odori events.

Bon Odori is all about enjoying dancing to any kind of music, and Awa Odori’s music fits perfectly too.

Summer memories scented by the windAAA58rank/position

AAA / “Summer Memories Fragrant on the Breeze” Music Video

By being tied to a major event like a summer festival, we can sometimes recall not only the scenes from that moment but even the emotions with vivid clarity.

This song by AAA portrays the act of looking back on those scenes and feelings associated with a past summer festival, as well as the passage of time and changes since then.

Centered around the gentle tones of the piano, the sound evokes a quiet reflection on memories and a sense of warmth in the heart.

The summer festival is depicted as the catalyst for love, and you can feel the positive emotions of wanting to cherish that summer festival moving forward.

Fortune Cookie in LoveAKB4859rank/position

[MV full] Koi Suru Fortune Cookie / AKB48 [Official]

The choreography was done by Papaya Suzuki.

I hear it was created with the image of a “modern, Japan-style bon odori.” Hearing that, it makes sense—calling it choreography rather than dance feels more accurate.

In other words, the moves are simple enough for anyone—men and women of all ages—to dance, just like the bon odori at festivals.

fireworksAdo60rank/position

[Ado] Fireworks

This song beautifully depicts summer fireworks as a symbol of the fleeting nature of youth.

Included on Ado’s first album, “Kyogen,” it drew significant attention immediately after its release in January 2022.

The feelings that arise at the end of adolescence and during the transition to a new chapter are expressed by likening them to the brief brilliance and fading of fireworks.

Lyrics by Kujira delicately portray the emptiness and loneliness of everyday life, as well as inner turmoil.

The music video created by Gol memorably captures memories of a fireworks festival attended with friends during the sweltering early summer season.

For those who feel lingering attachment to the past and the complexity of living in the present, it’s a song that’s impossible not to relate to.

The world is falling in loveCHiCO with HoneyWorks61rank/position

The World Is Falling in Love / CHiCO with HoneyWorks

If you’re looking for a summer festival song that captures a gentle, budding romance, “Sekai wa Koi ni Ochiteiru” is my top recommendation! This track is a collaboration between the creator unit HoneyWorks—affectionately known as Haniwa—and singer CHiCO.

The lyrics portray a tender summer love that evokes the feeling of youth, and it leaves you with a bittersweet ache as you listen.

It’s the perfect song to play when you invite your crush to a summer festival.

Those summer fireworksDREAMS COME TRUE62rank/position

DREAMS COME TRUE – That Summer’s Fireworks – SENKOU-HANABI VERSION – (from DWL 2015 Live Ver.)

DREAMS COME TRUE, a band popular across all ages and genders, delivers a fleeting love song themed around fireworks in “Fireworks of That Summer.” The lyrics evoke empathy as they depict memories sparked by fireworks—recalling an ex-lover with lingering feelings after a breakup.

If you have memories of falling in love during summer festival season, be sure to give it a listen.

Tokyo Summer SessionHONEY WORKS63rank/position

HoneyWorks “Tokyo Summer Session feat. CHiCO”

This is a song by the hugely popular unit HoneyWorks that sings about a summer festival.

The standout feature is, without a doubt, the lyrics written as a dialogue between a boy and a girl! It portrays a couple who seem just about to get together, and as you listen you can’t help but feel that excited “Come on, just take one more step already!!” It’s charming for its catchy, quintessentially HoneyWorks style and its cute, youth-filled lyrics, making it one of the top recommendations among songs about summer festivals.