Missing tents and power deepen Tottori food festival complaints

Vendors describe unfinished preparations and unsold food, while organizers say the advertised 50,000 visitors were a target, not a promise.

Channel: Nippon TV News ·

JapanStory of November 11, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? One of 日テレNEWS's most watched videos since yesterday, with 675,268 views.

日テレNEWS: The news division of Nippon TV, a Japanese commercial television network. 3.4M subscribers and 6.4B views.

【鳥取県】“5万人規模”集客のはずが…｢食フェス｣閑散集客や設営に出店者から不満の声主催者側の説明は

Things we can learn from the video

Press to jump

0:46A karaage vendor says the attendance estimate led him to prepare roughly 200 kilograms of chicken.
2:08The vendor describes missing tents, scattered furniture and no electricity on arrival.
3:36A yakiniku vendor questions how payment for ticket-voucher sales will be handled.
5:27An organizer acknowledges preparation problems, blaming a contractor's staffing shortfall and distinguishing the attendance target from a promise.
7:19Tokyo's Katsushika Food Festa chairman explains the months of coordination behind preparing a festival site.

The customers were not the only thing missing. A fried-chicken vendor arriving at a food festival in Kurayoshi, western Japan, says he found no tent, tables and chairs left scattered, and no electricity.

Japan's Nippon Television News reports that LOCAL FOOD FIGHT in TOTTORI, held last weekend, left stallholders questioning both its publicity and its preparations. Promoted as an east-against-west culinary contest with a target of 50,000 visitors, the event reportedly attracted only about 300 people on its first day.

A karaage shop owner from Matsue, in neighboring Shimane Prefecture, told the broadcaster's news zero program that he had prepared roughly 200 kilograms of chicken. He said he decided to participate after hearing the attendance estimate and an organizer's account of a previous yakitori festival drawing a large crowd.

Instead, he reported sales of around 10,000 yen, against a 55,000-yen stall fee before travel expenses. He withdrew before the second day, with substantial stock unsold.

Another stallholder, from a yakiniku restaurant in Tottori City, raised a different concern: when he would receive his takings. Customers had paid through a ticket-voucher system, and vendors had been told payment would follow within a week. He wanted a clear explanation of what would happen next; the report does not establish that payment was overdue.

Messages in an organizers' LINE group show late-night assurances about tents and vendors asking about water connections as preparations continued. Asked about the problems by reporter Yo Iwasaki, an organizer acknowledged preparation failures and said a setup contractor had supplied four workers rather than the expected 25. On attendance, the representative said the advertised figure was a goal, not a guarantee.

For comparison, the report turns to the executive committee chairman of Tokyo's Katsushika Food Festa. He describes months of coordination with suppliers and says delays leaving the venue unprepared on opening day would be unthinkable for his event.

Published on Trari