Yesterday, July 9, Shachomi from Nishi2 went to the “Ara Ebisu Night Festival: Yebisu Beer Festa” held at Nishinomiya Shrine. If you’re going today, 7/10, use this as a reference.
It’s a rare festival with lots of local Nishinomiya shops setting up booths, so I’ll introduce almost all of them.
Around 5:15 p.m. This is the scene in front of Akamon Gate. There were kids in yukata too.
Festival map↓
Numbers 11 to 19 are in the pine grove area.
Just inside Akamon Gate. It had only just started, but it was already packed with people. The ground was wet after the rain.
Right near the entrance, Taniya Bean Paste, known for Ebisu Kintsuba, was selling shaved ice.
Apparently the shaved ice machine broke partway through. But they were chilling and selling their summer-festival-only strawberry kintsuba on ice. Definitely check it out!
This is Bomaye from Imazu. The curry smelled insanely good. I can’t believe you can eat it at Nishinomiya Shrine too!
“Chichukai Shokudo Taim” was also there, and look at this line.
The paella here smelled absolutely irresistible too.
“Tachinomi Nihonshu Bar Matsuri.” They had all kinds of things for sale.
Menu↓
They had a great lineup of beer-friendly items like karaage and edamame. I think this may have been the only place selling yakisoba.
“TORIKARA STAND” from along Route 171 was here too!
First I want to have their gentle-flavored chicken karaage, then some spice curry too! If you like spicy food, go for the chili pepper.
Of course, cotton candy was alive and well! It was huge.
There were also the familiar summer festival stalls lined up around the South Gate.
The candy apple vendor had such a fun vibe.
They also had grape candy and strawberry candy.
Oh. Ebessan is being protected from the rain.
This spot.
Right after entering from the South Gate↓
Here is the shrine the festival is named after: “Ara Ebisu Shrine.”
When you pay your respects…
You can get a stamp rally card. Collect three stamps and even if you don’t win, you can get a discount coupon, and sometimes even a free beer ticket!
Still, look at this crowd. Apparently it’s the first time since 2019.
This line of junior high and high school students.
It’s that shop everyone from Nishinomiya knows. Can you guess?
That’s right! It’s Sanpoya, Nishinomiya’s famous baby castella shop!
When you think of festivals, you think of baby castella, right? I broke my collarbone and want to get more calcium, so I’m super happy
JA Kinan was selling umeboshi and processed plum products.
What’s this that both kids and adults were totally absorbed in?
A monkey performance. It was really clever.
There was also super ball scooping,
goldfish scooping,
and smart ball was really lively too.
At “Shanghai Ryori Chinsankaku” in Toda-cho, they had lots of zongzi, black sesame dumplings, spring rolls, and more.
From “Kushizen” near Hanshin Nishinomiya Station came a five-skewer assortment of kushikatsu.
At “Yakiniku Kacchan,” a familiar spot in front of Ebessan, they had festival must-haves like furifuri fries, edamame, and seared pig’s feet.
This is called beef fuwa karaage. It’s beef lung. It has a fluffy, chewy texture.
At “Izakaya Kasuga” in Toda-cho, they were also serving tonkotsu ramen from their affiliated shop “Chuka Soba Botan.”
They also had fried chicken thigh, cartilage, and shredded squid tempura. I think the three-kind fried food assortment is the best deal
So then,
Today’s main dish? Main drink?
