It has been announced that a new art festival, "Saitama Triennale 2016," will be held in three areas of Saitama City, Saitama Prefecture. Aiming for its opening in the fall of 2016, the festival's outline was announced at a press conference attended by the Mayor of Saitama City and many other relevant parties. Saitama Triennale 2016 is an international art festival with the theme "Discover the Future!" It will host artists from Japan and abroad and is scheduled to run for 79 days from September 24 to December 11, 2016. Taneo Kato (Executive Director of the Association for Corporate Support of the Arts, a public interest incorporated association) will serve as general advisor, and Takashi Serizawa (General Director of P3 Art and Environment), who has participated in the Yokohama Triennale and other events, will serve as director. The festival plans to exhibit and implement 40 to 50 core art works and programs, as well as various related programs (details will be announced in due course). Regarding these, Kato commented, "We plan to implement numerous citizen-participation art programs, with a goal of 100,000 total participants. Following the award of the Tokyo Olympics, Saitama wants to hold a cultural festival in its own unique way."

According to Serizawa, the program will span a vast area centered on three areas within Saitama City. The first, the area around Musashi-Urawa Station and Naka-Urawa Station, will be a stroll-oriented experience area, with artworks scattered indoors and outdoors between the two stations, where residential development is progressing. The second, the area around Omiya Station and Saitama-Shintoshin Station, will feature event- and theater-style artworks, creating an area where people can enjoy the city itself. Finally, the third, the area around Iwatsuki Station, will be an extraordinary space, creating an area that will foster mysterious experiences.

In addition, five pre-events are planned ahead of next year's event. Of particular note is the installation "Everyone Loves Someone, Just as You Love Someone," by Saitama-based artist Tsuyoshi Ozawa (scheduled for October 2015), a giant futon mountain made up of approximately 100 futons. Ozawa, who attended the exhibition, commented, "I'm amazed that there has never been an art event held within walking distance of my neighborhood." The striking logo, created by graphic designer Hideki Nakajima, is inspired by the shape of Saitama Prefecture and the rich blue of its rivers. Serizawa commented, "Saitama is packed with all of human land use. It has a city of high-rise buildings, new and old residential areas, rice fields, rivers, and forests. I see hosting the Triennale as part of Saitama's flexible urban planning."