Why did the “New Year’s Udon Festival,” which enjoyed deep-rooted popularity, change to the “Udon Summit”? Even if you are not a resident of Kagawa Prefecture, you may be curious ……, but first we would like to prioritize the udon that is being boiled one after another in front of us. We tasted a large selection of “local udon” gathered on one floor of the exhibition hall.
A separate event, the “New Year’s Udon Festival,” was held at Sun Messe Kagawa every December until 2023, with numerous stores. Has this event been renewed? But the “Udon Summit” itself is a completely different regional event that has been held more than 10 times.
Kagawa Prefecture residents, who eat 200 to 300 bowls of udon every year, have no other choice but to gather at …… for a food event. The “National Udon Summit in Sanuki” was held at the Sun Messe Kagawa Exhibition Hall in Takamatsu City on December 6 and 7.
30,000 people in two days” for Udon
Participating restaurants in the “Local Udon Summit” came from Hokkaido, Yamanashi, Aichi, Okayama, Nagasaki, and other regions. In addition, a Chinese restaurant in Takamatsu City will serve “sword noodles” instead of the two Chinese restaurants that were scheduled to participate in the international exchange booth.
When we spoke with the organizers, they told us that in 2024, “we attracted 30,000 visitors over two days. It is rare for an ordinary food event or stall village to attract more than 10,000 visitors per day without any major publicity.
What is characteristic is that many of the visitors are local residents of Kagawa Prefecture. They seemed to be very interested in udon other than Sanuki udon, and from early in the morning they were asking questions such as “What kind of udon do you have? What kind of udon do you have?” “How is it different from the usual Sanuki udon? They are always busy in strategy meetings about which udon to eat, regardless of age or sex.
Apparently, this event has continued to be held due to the unbridled “curiosity for udon” of the people of Kagawa Prefecture.
© Source travel watch