The Sumida One-Coin Oktoberfest takes a refreshingly simple approach: grab a beer, try another brewery, then keep going until you find a new favorite.

Fourteen breweries and craft beer specialists from across Japan are scheduled to participate, including two based in Sumida. Beer will be available from “one coin,” referring to prices starting from a 500-yen coin.

Returning favorites will be joined by several breweries making their first appearance, giving craft beer fans plenty of reasons to hop from stall to stall.

Scheduled participants include:
・Mugi to Budou Ushiku Brewery
・Let's Beer Works
・RIOT BEER
・Beer Club Popeye
・Chichibu Beer Brewery
・BATHE YOTSUME BREWERY
・Baird Beer
・Twin Peaks Mountain Brewing
・FARMENTRY
・Pecora Beer
・Wolves Brewing
・Gangi Brewing
・Ni-hai-me-no Beer
・NAMI NO OTO BREWING

Whether you already know your IPAs from your saisons or simply fancy trying something local, the festival is designed around casual tasting rather than committing to one brewery for the afternoon.

The Sumida Gibier Festival is also getting a major upgrade in 2026.

Working with the Kyushu Gibier Consortium, organizers are bringing an expanded selection of game meats and dishes to Tokyo, including familiar Japanese gibier ingredients such as venison and wild boar, plus whale, sometimes described in Japan as “gibier of the sea.”

Expect the ingredients to be grilled, fried, stewed, curried, and prepared in a variety of different styles.

The idea isn't only to attract dedicated game-meat fans. Organizers also want newcomers who have wondered “What does gibier actually taste like?” to have an easy way to try it.

Scheduled gibier vendors include:

・Taba Gibier
・Kujiraya Rajikku
・2terres
・bistoria Shintokorozawa
・Kyushu Gibier Fest / tracks
・Beer Cats & Kitchen Big Man
・Curry to Beer to...

Beer and wild game are only part of the food lineup.

This year's festival is expanding further with seafood from Tohoku, popular meat dishes, local Sumida businesses, and sweets. That means you can build anything from a full lunch to a casual snack crawl between performances.

Scheduled food vendors include:
・Aburiya
・ROCKET CHICKEN
・Lotte City Hotel Kinshicho
・Okutama Yamame
・Hokkaido Jingisukan Lamb'z
・Tokyo Teppan Club DEN
・Genki Farm
・Burari Kesen
・LingsKitchen

There will also be drinks beyond beer, plus a Team Okinawa area featuring:
・Hida Craft
・DISTILLERY TANZAWA BAR
・Zanpa / Higa Shuzo
・Kankara Cafe
・TEEDAMA

With approximately 35 food and drink businesses scheduled across the event area, deciding what to eat next may be one of the weekend's bigger challenges.

A new feature called Sumida Department will also debut at this year's festival.

Rather than being an actual department store, the area brings together distinctive shops, products, and makers from around Sumida in one place.

The concept is to recreate that feeling of wandering through different department store floors and repeatedly discovering something unexpected.

Visitors might arrive for jazz or beer, discover a local Sumida business they never knew existed, and then have another reason to explore the neighborhood later.

Participating shops and further details are expected to be announced through the festival's official website and social media.

You won't have to choose between watching the festival and stopping for food.

A special music stage will once again be installed directly in the food area, with artists performing throughout both days.

Grab a beer and settle into a seat, enjoy lunch while listening from your table, or wander toward the stage when something catches your ear.

October 17 performers
・Saito Shirabe
・CUPS
・Sinpe quartetto from Koriyama Music Day
・Hiraku
・Yuglet Waterloo Jug Band
・Hong soon dal Band
・GYPSY VAGABONZ
・Rojiura no Getsuto-dan
・KHACHA BAND
・Kansas City Band

October 18 performers
・CUPS
・Daisuke
・BONIN ISLAND JAZZ @ Sumida Street Jazz Festival
・Arakawa Sapiens
・Hitoshi Uechi & Kazuminchu
・Throw Line
・Wataru Oyama Band
・Saito Shirabe Quartet

Performers and programming are subject to change.

One of the more unusual performances is CUPS, an interactive activity that turns ordinary cups into rhythm instruments.

Participants move and tap their cups along with the music, creating rhythms together without needing any musical training.

Adults enjoying lunch, craft beer fans sitting nearby, and children wandering through the festival can all join in on the spot.

It's a playful way to go from watching the festival to actually becoming part of the music.

The food area will have approximately 650 seats and will stay open from 10 AM to 8 PM.

That gives visitors plenty of flexibility. Come for lunch, spend the afternoon comparing craft beer, stop by between other Sumida Jazz performances, or settle in during the evening with food and live music.

With free admission, there's also no need to plan the entire day around the festival. Drop in, grab something that looks good, and see where the music takes you.