- The Yokohama 18 Collection (“Yokohama Ichihachi Collection”) is organised by Yokohama City and is planned for Wednesday 21 to Thursday 29 July 2027 at the Event Plaza inside the Expo site. Residents of the city’s 18 wards take the lead, showing each ward’s culture and local products through food and stage performances. The English event name is our rendering.
- The city is now recruiting booth exhibitors: sales and promotion of ward specialties and local food, hands-on workshops and panel displays.
- Applications run from Monday 2 November to Monday 28 December, by online form, email or post.
- Sellers must be sole proprietors or companies based in, or working or studying in, Yokohama, with the required permits and at least one year of trading. Non-selling groups must include people who live, work or study in the city and normally have at least a year of activity.
- Stage performers (music, dance, theatre and more) have been recruited since 1 October, with the same 28 December deadline.
- Selection is planned for January to early February 2027, results in mid to late February, and briefings for participants from March. Monday 26 July is excluded from recruitment.
Our take
What visitors want to know is which wards will bring what food and which performances to the venue in late July. That will be decided in February. This announcement only tells us the conditions and schedule for taking part. Because sellers need at least a year of trading, the booths will be run by people already in business or active in Yokohama.
When Yokohama City set out its plans at the six-months-to-go mark in September, the venue was called the Main Event Plaza (provisional name). The new press material and recruitment page call it the Event Plaza. Neither document says whether this is the official name for the same space; the site map should settle it once it shows the location.
Of the nine days, Monday 26 July is left out of recruitment, and the announcement does not say whether the event runs that day.
Tips for visitors
- If you run a business or group in Yokohama and want to take part, the deadline is 28 December. The conditions differ for selling and non-selling booths, so read the guidelines first.
- Other festivals and events at the venue are listed in our guide to festivals at the venue, and Yokohama’s September plans are in our news on the city’s six-months-to-go announcements.
Our take
For visitors, what matters is that local food and performances from Yokohama's 18 wards will fill the venue from 21 to 29 July. Who takes part will not be known until selection results in February. The venue, called the Main Event Plaza (provisional name) in September, is now listed as the Event Plaza.