Konomi Festival Basel

Konomi: It's time again for the festival of Japanese flavors in Basel!

From April 26 to May 02, 2026, Basel will take you on a sensory trip to Japan for the fourth time at various locations.

on a sensory journey through Japan. Street food, traditional crafts, Japanese bars, cozy tea parties, workshops, guided tours, raffles and short films: At Konomi, the Japanese way of life meets the Swiss way of life!

For the fourth time, Konomi, the festival of Japanese flavors, finds its way to Basel.

Basel: from Sunday, April 26 to Saturday, May 02, 2026, various Japanese addresses invite you to

cocktail bars and restaurants in the city on the Rhine invite you to enjoy a delightful experience.

The diverse sensory journey will not only delight the palate, but also provide you with plenty of brain food and opportunities to learn new things. This year, for example, Konomi is once again teaming up with the largest short film festival in Asia: Stadtkino Basel is showing eight extraordinary short films from the Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, which either revolve around the estrangement between man and machine or bizarre incidents. While you gain an insight into Japanese culture, etiquette and philosophy of life, you can also enjoy the right sake to accompany the film (if required).

The extremely successful opening festival will also be repeated on Sunday: our family festival at Werk 8 offers all kinds of delicacies such as karaage (a kind of popcorn chicken), dorayaki (a sweet baked in the shape of fish), yakitori grilled live over charcoal or the popular rice balls onigiri. You can also have yourself professionally dressed in a kimono. Or immerse yourself in the world of anime and manga. Or taste sake from one of our wonderful partners Hakutsuru. There are so many ways to enjoy Japan this Sunday!

Other highlights in 2026? Bartender Gento Torigata from London's famous Waltz Bar is traveling especially for us. He will turn the Herz Bar into a Japanese bar for one evening with a special program! 2026 also has a Japanese tea house, workshops on Japanese alcohol-free enjoyment, cooking courses for bento boxes, wagashi sweets or udon noodles, a manga exchange and matcha training. There's also plenty of craftsmanship: you can immerse yourself in sumi-e painting, pottery, ikebana flower arranging or origami folding.

Want something a little more luxurious or festive? Our Les Trois Rois location is taking part again this year. This time with the new Banks Restaurant and a food and drinks program. You can find the complete program overview on the Konomi website (updated regularly).

Back again: the Konomi-Konbini as a small festival center!

Due to the good response last year, we are reopening our Japanese kiosk again in 2026: Konbini. Various Japanese products can be tasted, studied and purchased there. For example, our aforementioned Tenugui. Open daily from 3-6:30 pm, it also functions as a small festival center. Where you can also get all kinds of information about the festival or last-minute ticket options!

New: Merch directly from Japan & first Konomi bar

The idea of Konomi is a decentralized affair of the heart of many participants.

The festival was founded by Rebekka Salzmann, former manager of the missing cocktail bar Angels' Share, and Robert Lamm, a renowned bartender who has lived in Japan and founded the Cocktail Academy in his home city of Berlin. Konomi is now run by a small group of Swiss and Japanese women and pleasure-loving enthusiasts.

"I am very proud that we can offer an original Tenugui as merchandise this year," explains one of the co-organizers Miki-san. "We have this traditional small bath towel made directly in Japan in the traditional way with a Swiss design!"

There is just as much anticipation for the opening party and our first own Konomibar. Robert Lamm: "We are delighted to be able to offer Basel families this wonderful opening party at Werk 8 from 12 noon to 6 pm. Konomi started out with bar culture and sake. That's why this year we're also having our own Konomi bar with a different program every evening. All about whisky from Nikka and Suntory or shochu from Kumamoto. But it's also important to us to take everyone, big and small, on our pleasure trip to Japan!"

See you soon, Sailor Moon!

+++ DATES +++

Sunday, April 26 to Saturday, May 02, 2026

The festival program is available online and will be updated regularly: konomi.ch

+++ Locations 2026 +++

Banks at the Grand Hotel Les Trois Rois, Blumenrain 8, banksbasel.com/

Basso, Elsässerrheinweg 101, bassoverse.space

Blaupause, Utengasse 28, blaupause.bar

Ferment brewery, Appenzellerstrasse 14, brauerei-ferment.ch

Herz, Clarastrasse 11, herzbasel.com

Hōmu - Japanese living, Gerbergässlein 10+12, homu.ch

Miake Izakaya, Sempacherstrasse 7, miake.ch

Ceramidashery, Augustinergasse 21, ceramidashery.com

Stadtkino, Klostergasse 5, stadtkinobasel.ch

Mana Bar, Güterstrasse 99, manabar.ch

Werk 8, Dornacherstrasse 192, werkacht.ch

+++ Partner 2026 +++

Hakutsuru | Nikka | YumiHana | Haecky | FoodEx | George Weiss | BBT

+++ Tickets +++

Tickets for the individual events can be booked on the konomi website.

Contact for media inquiries and press photos: Robert Lamm, yokoso@konomi.ch, +49.178.7627.824

Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.