The Junior STAR to FESTIVAL 2026 live concert by juniors affiliated with STARTO ENTERTAINMENT kicked off on January 29th at Yokohama Arena in Kanagawa (Kohoku Ward, Yokohama City). Prior to the first performance, 11 performers, including Hidaka Ukisawa of ACEes, Mizuki Inoue of KEY TO LIT, and Rei Yabana of B&ZAI, were interviewed on behalf of the performers, and spoke about their enthusiasm and what to look forward to.
The Juniors performed live in January of last year, and reformed the group in February. Ukisho said, "We've had group changes and various other changes in our circumstances, but after a year has passed, we've seen many different things, gained many different experiences, and now we're all coming together again to perform a concert. I'm really looking forward to it, but I'm also nervous about what it will be like."
Inoue said, "Each group rehearsed, and when we got together for the first time for a full rehearsal, I realized for the first time things like, 'Wow, they've really grown,' or 'So this is how this group does it,' so it's very inspiring. I'm sure you'll understand if you watch, but we want to give it our all on this stage, bringing to the stage everything we've cultivated over the past year."
Furthermore, when asked about the highlights, he revealed, "Each group will perform in a festival format, but we will start off with a song that is typical of KEY TO LIT, and I think everyone will enjoy the image of Kiteretsu that we want to show. There will also be a performance that can only be seen at a group live show, where (Motoki) Yu and Uchimura (Souta) will rap along with Igari (Souya)'s rap and Sasaki (Daikou)'s drumming, which are KEY TO LIT's weapons."
Ukisho said, "We, ACEes, are five people who love sparkly idols, so we'll first show you what it means to be 'the idol' and then get the audience excited with a performance that shows us going all out with our souls. Over the past year, we've put a lot of effort into dance and vocal lessons, and we've prepared a corner where you can really see our dance skills, so we really hope you'll be captivated."
Yabana said, "This event is also called a festival, and I know it might be a bit weird to say it out loud, but... we've performed at Summer Sonic (laughs). With that in mind, this will be B&ZAI's first time performing at a festival with our friends, so I hope we can use what we've learned from performing at various festivals last year to liven up Yokohama Arena and have a happy, fun time together."
When asked for a message for the fans at the end, Ukisho declared, "I'd like to close with an a-i-u-e-o composition that started with Star Fes!" He continued enthusiastically, "(S) It's going to be a really fun concert, seeing our wonderful, (T) fun and cool (F)ais. Let's do our best, oh!"
The live performance featured a total of 77 performers, including 12 new members. Other performers in the press conference were Tokyo Junior members Kuroda Mitsuteru, Motoki Yu, Adachi Kei, Chiino Sorato, Miyaoka Taiai, and Yamagishi So, Kansai Junior members Nishimura Takuya, and AmBitious member Nagaoka Renou.
