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In early September every year, the Tsuruga Festival is held around Kehi Jingu Shrine. This festival involves six highly decorated floats, topped with life-sized figures representing people from history. Enjoy traditional music, dancing, and a parade of people dressed in old-fashioned clothes.

Tsuruga Festival is renowned as the "Long Festival of Kehi," consisting of the Eve Festival on September 2nd, the Procession Festival on the 3rd, the Grand Festival on the 4th, the After Festival from the 5th to the 10th, and concluding with the Monthly Festival on the 15th.

The Yoiya Festival on the 2nd is the eve of the main festival, and it is said the main festival cannot begin without the Yoiya Procession. Children perform dances on the "Yoiya" floats, parading through the city accompanied by lively festival music featuring flutes and drums.

The Imperial Palanquin (Gohoren) on the 3rd is a portable shrine enshrining Emperor Chuai, the sacred object of Kehi Jingu Shrine. Led by a brocade banner bearing the imperial chrysanthemum crest, it is accompanied by an eboshi (ceremonial cap), guards in straight-hemmed robes (hitatare no eji), warriors in armor (tsurumeso), a priest riding a sacred horse, children, and musicians. Accompanied by classical Japanese court music, it parades through the city with parishioners in an ancient and dignified manner, marking the main festival of the annual celebration.

On the 4th, the main festival day, all six traditional floats, symbols of the festival and its long history, gather. Tsuruga's floats are characterized by life-sized dolls adorned with authentic Noh masks and armor, depicting the heroic figures of warlords in battles of the Sengoku (Warring States) period of the late 15th century to the late 16th century.

Throughout the festival period, various shopping districts host festival squares, a carnival parade involving all citizens, and evenings of folk song and dance, drawing many visitors to Tsuruga from both within and outside the city.