is an annual

music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...

held on one weekend in August simultaneously in both Chiba and

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

, Japan. The festival features revolving lineups performing one day in Osaka then performing the next day in Chiba and vice-versa. The lineup often features major international acts in addition to Japanese artists from major and independent record companies. The festival was first held in 2000 at

Fuji-Q Highland is an amusement park in Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi, Fujiyoshida, Yamanashi Prefecture, Yamanashi, Japan, owned and operated by the namesake Fuji Kyuko, Fuji Kyuko Co. It opened on 2 March 1968. The park is near the base of Mount Fuji. It has a nu ...

resort in

Yamanashi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Yamanashi Prefecture has a population of 787,592 (1 February 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,465 km2 (1,724 sq mi). Yamanashi Prefecture borders Saitama Prefecture to the n ...

. The festival moved to Chiba in 2001, just east of

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

, and has occurred in both Chiba and Osaka simultaneously since 2002. Since 2011 the festival has been preceded by the all-night event Sonicmania, a separately ticketed event held in only Chiba featuring an EDM-centric lineup. The 2009 and 2011 editions of the festival were held over three days while all other editions of the festival have been two days. International versions of the festival have occasionally been held outside Japan, including

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

in 2017 and

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

in 2024.

History

Summer Sonic Festival was founded in 2000 in Japan, by Naoki Shimizu, CEO of Tokyo promotions company Creativeman Productions Ltd. Addressing the ever-growing demand for western music, the festival drew established and emerging musical acts of most genres to become, by 2010, Japan's biggest music event. The Chiba event takes place every August at the massive

Makuhari Messe is a convention center in Chiba (city), Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, located just outside of Tokyo. Designed by Fumihiko Maki, it is accessible by Transportation in Greater Tokyo#Railway and subway, Tokyo's commuter rail system. ''Makuha ...

convention center, which overlooks

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan spanning the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture, on the southern coast of the island of Honshu. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. Th ...

, with the main stage located in nearby Zozo Marine Stadium. In Osaka, the venue is Maishima Sonic Park. At all venues, there is always a large arena main stage and several other smaller stages. In 2011, the festival established Sonicmania, whose focus is on

electronic dance music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...

(EDM). It is held at Makuhari Messe the day before the festival. In 2012, Creativeman formed a joint venture with

Live Nation Entertainment Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American multinational entertainment company that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. It promotes, operates and manages ticket sales for live entertainment internation ...

. In 2014, Live Nation bought full control of the festival. In 2019, B'z was announced as the first, and so far only, Japanese headliner in the festival's twenty-year history. The 2020 festival was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, but a truncated version, branded as 'Supersonic', took place in September 2021 with restrictions in place and a typhoon affecting day one. Possibly because of the logistics of moving people around during a pandemic, the 2021 lineup was mainly electronic. Controversy arose when some international DJs were allowed into Japan without having to quarantine despite the quarantine requirement for most other foreign arrivals.

Performances

Lineups for the festival in past years are as follows. The artists in bold are the headlining acts for that year.

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

Canceled due to the

2021

2022

2023

2024

Notes

References

External links

Official site (in Japanese)

Official site 2009
(in English)
Official site 2008
(in English)
Official site 2007
(in English) {{Rock festival Music festivals in Japan Summer festivals Rock festivals in Japan Tourist attractions in Chiba Prefecture Chiba (city) Konohana-ku, Osaka Tourist attractions in Osaka Festivals in Osaka Prefecture Electronic music festivals in Japan Music festivals established in 2000 Music festivals in China