When it comes to fireworks festivals, we can no longer just talk about whether they are free or paid.
Discussions surrounding summer fireworks festivals tend to focus on whether to maintain free viewing or increase the number of paid seats.
However, from the perspective of actual management, the issues are a little more vivid.
Who will pay for security? Where will the money for traffic control and cleaning come from? How much of the ticket revenue can go back to not only the production but also safety measures and resident support?
The free tournament, which opens the riverbed widely, has the advantage that anyone can participate. As a summer tradition, this one can be said to be closer to its original appearance.
On the other hand, as the number of visitors increases, the number of security guards, temporary toilets, guide fences, first-aid equipment, and cleaning personnel must also be increased. The problem is that there is no mechanism in place to naturally recover the costs based on the number of visitors.
Even if the number of spectators increases by 100,000 people, the organizer's income does not necessarily increase by 100,000 people. In fact, the trash, congestion, and security burden may only increase.
If the number of paid seats is increased, this gap in income and expenditure will be reduced to some extent. However, the question now arises: ``Are only people who can afford expensive tickets watching local fireworks up close?''
Tokyo Racecourse Fireworks is an interesting model that lies between this free event and a completely paid event.
The event, held on July 1, 2026, featured a combination of music and 14,000 fireworks under the theme of Shogo Hamada's 50th anniversary since his debut. The general A seat was 7,700 yen, and the first A seat for Fuchu residents was 5,000 yen. The citizen discount is available to the first 1,000 people, and the planned number of tickets has been reached.
What I would like to caution here is that if you view this tournament as a simple ``JRA promotional event,'' you will misunderstand the business structure.
According to official information, the event will be sponsored by the executive committee, with Fuchu City providing support, and Keio Electric Railway, JR East, and others providing assistance. Although Tokyo Racecourse is the stage, it is a little different from an event that sells horse racing itself. Rather, this project becomes more interesting when viewed as a facility business that monetizes large-scale facilities for purposes other than their original purpose.
The money that fireworks festivals bring to the community is not as simple as it seems.
There is no doubt that fireworks displays create demand for the local economy.
People who don't normally visit Fuchu take the train, eat and drink around the station, and shop at convenience stores and retail stores. If you come from far away, there will be demand for accommodation. If there are people traveling around the city or the Tama area the next day, consumption will further expand.
However, it is quite dangerous to judge that the economic effects are large based solely on the number of visitors.
Local spending per person is completely different between day-trippers who come from nearby areas and return home after just watching the fireworks, and out-of-town visitors who stay overnight. If the food and drinks purchased at the venue are sold by a business outside the city, a significant portion of the sales will flow outside of Fuchu.
At big events, we pay attention to the flashy numbers of visitors and total sales. However, in analyzing the regional economy, it is meaningless unless we dig a little deeper.
The viewing order is roughly as follows.
First, how much did it sell at the box office overall? Next, how much added value was created within the region? Finally, how much is left over to local people in the form of wages and business income?
Just because it's held locally doesn't mean the local area will benefit.
If out-of-town companies are responsible for fireworks production, sound, stage set-up, security, advertising, and ticket sales, much of the expense goes outside the city. On the other hand, even if the unit price is small, such as bento boxes and drinks, if local stores employ local workers and purchase from local businesses, the amount that remains in the local community is surprisingly large.
Rather than looking at the size of total sales, it is more accurate to look at the number of times money is transferred within the area.
It may not be noticeable, but safety costs determine the success or failure of a performance.
When you think of the cost of a fireworks display, you may think of firework balls and production costs.
In fact, the costs around it are quite heavy.
Security, traffic regulation, relief, insurance, temporary toilets, guide fences, securing evacuation routes, store opening management, firefighting, and cleaning after the event. After accumulating these costs, we are finally able to hold the event.
The National Police Agency places emphasis on crowd control for events where large numbers of spectators gather, such as fireworks displays, through cooperation with organizers, local governments, public transportation, and other parties. The Fire and Disaster Management Agency has also taken measures such as fire prevention management and installing fire extinguishers at stalls, based on past accidents at outdoor event venues.
Safety costs are not behind-the-scenes costs of an event. This is close to the qualification itself for hosting the event.
Moreover, there are some expenses that are difficult to capture just from the organizer's income and expenditure statement.
Detours due to road regulations, waiting times for regular users, garbage, noise, and impact on emergency flow lines. While visitors and station-front stores benefit, residents living near the venue may only bear the burden.
If this burden distribution is taken lightly, it will be difficult to reach an agreement to host the Games from next year onwards.
Fireworks also have the special feature of being visible for free even from a distance. Even if revenue is generated only from visitors who have purchased tickets, there will be spectators without tickets in the area, and security and cleaning will be necessary.
Furthermore, even if sales at surrounding stores increase, that profit does not necessarily go back to the executive committee that pays security costs.
How to combine free areas, citizen quotas, paid seats, and sponsorship money. This is more like a burden contract between the organizer and the region than a fee setting.
What are the advantages of using Tokyo Racecourse?
Tokyo Racecourse Fireworks will begin in 2022, and the theme has changed each year, including The Rolling Stones, Yumi Matsutoya, City Pop, and J-POP. 2026 is the 50th anniversary of Shogo Hamada's solo debut.
Income and expenditures have not been made public. Therefore, you cannot assume that a business is highly profitable just because it has been going on for several years.
I want to look at this a little calmer.
Just because an event is profitable doesn't mean it will continue. Events may be continued for reasons other than single-year profits and losses, such as the strategic meaning of the facility, the value of the sponsor, the content value of the media hosting the event, and maintaining business relationships with related companies.
Still, it is meaningful that it is held every year.
This is because the know-how created in the first year on entrance/exit lines, security placement, sales data, sound adjustments, and dealing with the neighborhood can be carried over to the next year. It is easier to learn about management than one-off events.
The racetrack has stands, seats, restrooms, food and beverage facilities, and entry gates. Compared to an event where temporary facilities are built from scratch on a riverbed, existing assets can be used in a wider range of areas.
It is easy to gauge the number of attendees based on the number of tickets sold. Another strength is that the spectator area is easy to manage, and visibility and comfort can be changed for each ticket type.
However, it is wrong to simply say, ``Racecourses have low operating costs because they have the facilities.''
The fireworks display ends after dark, and many spectators quickly leave the venue. The movement of people is different from daytime horse racing. As a music event, sound equipment is also required, and regulations and fire protection systems must be established based on the fireworks display area.
Being able to use existing equipment and not requiring additional safety costs are two different things.
Multiple ticket types have been set up for the 2026 Games, including premium seats, group seats, S seats, A seats, and pair tickets for wheelchair users. The A seat was 7,700 yen, the S seat was 8,800 yen, and the premium seat was 11,000 yen.
Some people may think this price is high if they think of it as just the price to see fireworks.
However, the visibility of the fireworks is not the only thing organizers are selling.
Seats must be reserved. Being able to experience a synchronized performance of music and fireworks from a close distance. Must be able to view the event at a venue where the number of attendees is controlled. Must have toilet and eating facilities. A sense of unity as the entire venue shares the same performance.
In other words, you're not selling fireworks per se, but time, which includes a certain level of comfort and safety.
This is an important point when considering charging for urban fireworks. Rather than putting a price on what you can see, make the viewing environment a product.
This seems to be the model in which broadcasting stations and performance companies become organizers, and railway companies also participate in cooperation.
The supply chain for fireworks festivals is not completed by fireworks companies alone. The process includes theme planning, rights processing for sound sources and songs, public relations, ticket sales, venue management, transportation, and regulated exits.
If any one problem is disrupted, visitor satisfaction will drop significantly.
The profit structure is not as simple as "number of seats x unit price"
Tickets are the mainstay of box office revenue, but that's not the only thing.
Sponsorship money, food and beverage sales revenue, store opening fees, and a share of sales commissions can also be sources of income. The costs include fireworks, sound, venue usage, planning and production, advertising, song rights processing, play guide fees, security, insurance, relief, and cleaning.
Even if tickets are sold out, the operating profit margin will not be that high if fixed costs are heavy.
In particular, music-linked fireworks are more complex to design than regular fireworks. If you include the composition of each song, second-by-second synchronization, sound, and rights, you can't calculate the cost just by looking at the number of fireworks.
When looking at the break-even point, it is easier to organize your expenses by dividing them into three parts.
損益分岐来場者数 ＝
（固定費 ＋ 段階費 － チケット以外の収入）
÷（平均チケット単価 － 一人当たり変動費）Fixed costs include fireworks production, sound, venue preparation, production, advertising, etc.
Staged costs include security guards, gates, first-aid equipment, temporary toilets, etc. that increase when the number of visitors exceeds a certain level.
Variable costs are similar to payment costs for each visitor and consumables.
The cost of fireworks and sound does not increase with each additional audience member. Once you decide on the scale of the production, a lot of it is decided.
For this reason, while it is easier to make a profit when ticket sales exceed a certain level, it can also cause serious damage if sales are lower than expected.
Also, security costs are not directly proportional to the number of spectators. When visitor numbers exceed a certain level, additional gates and security areas are required, increasing costs over time.
Event profitability is not a smooth straight line, but there are bumps here and there.
Another reason to continue for multiple years is to be able to reuse operational know-how.
The guidance lines, security plan, neighborhood information, sales data, and operation manual created in the first year will serve as the foundation for the following years. If there is less rework during the preparation stage, the burden on the production side will also be lighter.
As awareness accumulates, it will be easier to reduce advertising costs for explaining the event from scratch.
Knowing past purchaser data and repeat customer ratios will improve the accuracy of designing price ranges and ticket types. Previous year's sales results can also be used for sponsorship sales.
However, not everything gets cheaper every year.
Fireworks production costs, security guard personnel costs, insurance premiums, music rights costs, and transportation-related costs rise depending on the external environment. In particular, safety-related costs are not something that can be cut simply because there have been no problems in the past.
There is also the possibility that the increased operational proficiency will be absorbed by other cost increases.
A multi-year event creates room for revenue improvement, but it does not automatically boost profit margins.
I want to look at regional income before “economic effects”
Articles about the event tend to use numbers such as ``economic impact of billions of yen''.
Although it looks nice, it is difficult to judge the actual benefits to the region based on the numbers alone.
Not all of the proceeds from ticket sales will remain in Fuchu City. Some of the money is paid to organizers, artist rights holders, play guides, out-of-town production companies, security companies, etc.
Conversely, even small amounts of food and beverage consumption can easily lead to local income if stores within the city employ local residents and purchase from within the area.
Economic ripple effects are usually estimated in the following order: direct demand spent in the area by visitors and organizers, purchases to meet that demand, and additional consumption from the income generated.
Tokyo's input-output table can be used for estimation, but the effects that occur in Tokyo as a whole and the effects that remain in Fuchu City are not the same.
Payments to production companies in Tokyo may be included in the `Tokyo effect,'' but they cannot be considered a `Fuchu city effect.''
Furthermore, if you simply add up the ticket price and the event fee paid by the organizer using the ticket price as separate demands, you will be double counting.
Economic impact figures vary considerably depending on assumptions. It's not that the higher the number, the better.
However, even if the economic ripple effect is large, it does not necessarily mean that the entire region has benefited.
If the area in front of the station becomes crowded with fireworks visitors and regular shoppers avoid coming to the store, it is necessary to consider the loss.
There are also external costs such as the security burden on the government, additional measures on the part of transportation operators, road regulations, garbage disposal, and noise.
Conceptually, the regional evaluation is as follows.
地域純便益 ＝ 来場者・住民の便益
＋ 事業者の増分利益
＋ 確認できる将来便益
－ 消費の置換・抑制
－ 追加公的費用
－ 混雑、ごみ、騒音などの外部費用What I want to pay attention to here is "future benefits."
The event raised the profile of Fuchu City. The number of repeat visitors has increased. The image of the region has improved. This is understandable as an explanation, but if you translate it into monetary amounts without confirming it, the economic effects can be inflated to any degree.
If repeat visits are included in the benefits, it is necessary to track the return visit rate after visiting the venue, the additional consumption at that time, and the difference from normal times.
Only by comparing the flow of people by station, store sales by time of day, number of guests, payment data, and visitor surveys with normal days and the same period last year will we be able to see the scale of deferred consumption.
At the very least, it is not enough to simply multiply the number of visitors by the estimated unit price.
Tokyo Racecourse as a facility business
The value of the Tokyo Racecourse Fireworks cannot be measured solely by whether those who watched the fireworks became horse racing fans.
If large-scale facilities can be used on days when horse racing is not held, idle time can be turned into a profit opportunity.
Large facilities like racetracks require maintenance and management costs just to own them. If the stands, entrance facilities, and food and drink functions can be used for other purposes on non-event days, this will help increase the productivity of fixed assets.
However, public data is scarce here as well.
Without knowing the income from providing the venue, additional personnel costs, cleaning costs, and equipment costs, it is impossible to judge how much the fireworks display contributed to the facility's revenue.
The overall figures for JRA are too rough to discuss the impact on fixed asset turnover. Revenue and additional expenses will be required for each facility and event.
In practice, we would look at the number of event days when horse racing is not held, the number of visitors per day, the facility income for each event, and the contribution profit after deducting additional operating costs.
It's not just whether the facility is filled, but how much profit remains from using it.
So, will those who came for the fireworks return to the racecourse? The percentage of first-time visitors has not been made public, and currently we can only guess based on the entrance.
Experience the spacious stands, on-site food and beverage facilities, and the route from the station, and your impression of the racecourse may change.
However, it cannot be confirmed from publicly available information that ``the number of horse racing users will increase due to fireworks.''
Fireworks visitors and horse racing visitors have very different purposes. Music fans don't necessarily come to the horse racing event the following week.
Looking at the long-term effects, it is necessary to track what percentage of fireworks visitors had no experience with horse racing, whether they returned to horse racing or other facility events afterward, and how the image of the facility had changed.
At the stage where there is no data, it is appropriate to limit it to ``a potential point of contact with new customers''.
Don't treat expectations as facts. This delineation is necessary.
Can we turn congestion into local consumption?
Tokyo Racecourse has multiple train stations available for use, including Fuchu Keiba Seimonmae Station, Higashifuchu Station, and Fuchuhonmachi Station.
This is an advantage that riverbed tournaments do not have, but the problem remains that demand concentrates in a short period of time after the show ends.
After the fireworks are over, tens of thousands of people move in unison. Even if regulated exits are implemented, there are limits to the processing capacity of stations and sidewalks.
Conversely, there is room to turn this waiting time into local consumption.
Separate exit times with electronic tickets. We will inform you of the congestion situation through the app and information board. Hand out coupons for stores near the station that can be used while waiting. If organizers, railway companies, and shopping districts cooperate, there is scope to change the one-way flow toward the station to a short-term stay in the local area.
However, it is not as easy as it sounds.
If another line forms in front of the store, it will worsen pedestrian safety. If people return to the station before the last train, a second peak will occur. If location information is to be used, consent and handling of personal information are also required.
Stores also have a limit on the number of customers they can accept in a short period of time.
Rather than starting on a large scale, this is a measure that should be tried by narrowing down the target stores, time of day, and number of tickets issued.
If we are to evaluate the continued holding, what numbers should we publish?
If you want to really evaluate this event model, you'll want to look at the following numbers first, rather than gaudy estimates of economic effects.
- Sales rate, average unit price, repeat customer ratio by ticket type
- Sponsorship renewal rate and sales per person including food and beverage sales
- Entertainment profits after deducting rights processing, security, and insurance
- The time from the end of the show to arrival at each station, and the number of accidents, relief, and complaints.
- Incremental sales of local stores, local procurement rate, employee income remaining in the area
- Number of facility operating days on non-horse racing days and facility contribution profit per day
It is not enough to list a large number of indicators.
Profitability for organizers, safety of visitors, return to the community, and burden on residents. If we can track these four things, we can clearly see the outline of the event.
The weather is what ultimately affects profitability.
Many costs are incurred before the event, including fireworks production, sound, venue setup, advertising, and security arrangements. Even if a program is canceled at the last minute, not all expenses will be wiped out.
On the other hand, if ticket refunds occur, revenue will decrease.
To what extent does cancellation insurance apply? Who will bear the burden of purchasing for store owners? Will there be a reserve day? When will the decision to cancel be made?
Depending on this design, the person bearing the risk will change.
Therefore, it is difficult to judge the profitability of the fireworks business based on a single year's surplus. It is necessary to look at the average over multiple years, taking into account cancellations and reduced holdings that occur once every few years.
You can see it clearly if you only crop it in sunny years. However, the true strength of the event business lies in how much losses can be suppressed in the year of cancellation.
And the more charges are introduced, the more the question of who can watch local fireworks remains.
If we set up a discount frame for Fuchu residents, the average unit price would go down by that amount. If a free area is established, there is a possibility that the attraction to paid seats will be weakened.
If you look only at profitability, it appears inefficient.
However, citizen quotas and free viewing opportunities can also be considered as costs for maintaining local acceptance.
Surrounding residents will be responsible for traffic restrictions, congestion, and noise. If there is no visible return to the community, the impression will become stronger that the event is ``an event that only the local community is responsible for for the sake of people who come from outside.''
If that happens, the cost of hosting the event from next year onwards will actually go up.
The citizen quota is not just a service. It makes sense to buy the social license to continue holding the event.
Summary: From the business of setting off fireworks to the business of managing time and space
Tokyo Racecourse Fireworks is an urban model that uses existing large-scale facilities, prices the viewing experience, and manages the number of visitors.
It is worth seeing as an example of event business and facility marketing, as it combines music and fireworks and continues for several years with a different theme every year.
However, continued holding does not prove that the event is profitable.
The 14,000 fireworks and high sales rate do not necessarily indicate Fuchu City's regional income.
In the end, there are four things to look at: the profitability of the organizers, the utilization of Tokyo Racecourse on non-race days, the income left in the local community, and the return commensurate with the burden on residents.
Fireworks festivals are no longer simply events where fireworks are launched into the night sky.
It allows spectators to enter safely, provides experiential value, and reduces the burden on surrounding traffic and residents, while leaving profits for both the theater and the local community. From `showing fireworks'' to `managing time and space.'' The summer fireworks display has become a business that clearly shows the capabilities of the facility business and local management.
source
- 東京競馬場花火2026 公式サイト (Event overview, sponsorship, sponsorship, cooperation, number of fireworks, ticket information. Confirmed on July 12, 2026)
- 東京都府中市「SHOGO HAMADA 50TH ANNIVERSARY FIREWORKS 2026」の市民割引販売 (Citizen discount, organizer, hometown tax related information. Confirmed on July 12, 2026)
- JRA「東京競馬場」 (Facility information, access, facility functions. Confirmed on July 12, 2026)
- Keio Electric Railway “About the operation of special trains due to the Tokyo Racecourse Fireworks Festival” (published on July 1, 2026)
- 総務省統計局「統計FAQ 産業連関表」 (Definition and purpose of use of input-output tables. Confirmed on July 12, 2026)
- 警察庁「令和6年警察白書 第2項 警備実施」 (Collaboration between crowd security at fireworks displays, etc. and related organizations. Confirmed on July 12, 2026)
- 総務省消防庁「屋外イベント会場の防火対策の推進」 (Fire prevention measures based on the fire at the Fukuchiyama Fireworks Festival venue. Confirmed on July 12, 2026)