Hi everyone! I’m sg4e and I’ve been a fan of hololive since HoloMyth’s debut in 2020. The first Fes I watched live was hololive 3rd fes. Link Your Wish in 2022, and I’ve now watched every one before and after (most of them multiple times!). In today’s post, I’d like to give you a preview of what to expect at hololive’s upcoming mega-concert: hololive 7th fes. Ridin’ on Dreams.

Brief history of hololive fes.

Let’s start with the basics: Fes¹ is an annual concert held in a real-world venue in Japan in which each member of hololive performs one solo song, one song as a pair or group with other hololive members, and one song with all members on stage². They sing and dance using motion-capture equipment, and their performances are projected onto a screen at the venue. Performances are likely recorded ahead of time³, but concerts also contain live MC segments of vtubers interacting with and encouraging the audience, assisted by a live camera feed of the crowd. For fans who cannot attend in person, there is also a livestream. The concert first took place on January 24, 2020 at Toyosu Pit in Tokyo, Japan.

Hololive 1st fes. Nonstop Story happened at a time when Cover Corporation, hololive’s parent company, was still getting its footing in the entertainment and technology industries. Their capabilities for motion capture, 3D rendering, and model projection were still in an embryonic state, and as a new business, they didn’t yet have the discretionary capital to put up a big budget for this experimental type of live performance. Consequently, the concert wasn’t as visually impressive as modern iterations, and the dance routines lacked professional choreography. Hololive 1st fes. still had a lot of charm and was the first live performance of hololive’s three most iconic original group songs: Shiny Smily Story, キラメキライダー☆ Kirameki Rider, and 夢見る空へ Yumemiru Sora e.

Hololive 2nd fes. Beyond the Stage extended Fes into two concerts over two days, with half the cast performing on the first day, and the other half on the other.

The event got a huge upgrade in 2022 for hololive 3rd fes. Link Your Wish. It changed venues to Makuhari Messe, an enormous convention center in Tokyo where it’s been hosted every year since. This was also the debut of hololive Super Expo, the official hololive convention held at the same location and dates as Fes, featuring panels, displays, exhibits, and hololive-themed cosplays.

The upgrades weren’t limited to a change in venue. Hololive had started to take off in popularity both domestically and internationally, and Cover Corporation had made significant advancements in its technology and equipment. Hololive 3rd fes. was the first concert to feature performances in Augmented Reality. While the experience was largely unchanged for those attending in person, the livestream augmented the venue video footage with a post-processing 3D-rendering pipeline, so the online audience saw the vtuber models come to life with a realistic perspective of depth and space, as if they were really standing and dancing on the stage. Cover Corporation also invested more into stage peripherals for special effects with real-world pyrotechnics and smoke machines.

Hololive 3rd fes. was a watershed concert for hololive. It was a culmination in visual presentation, technological sophistication, and raw talent, and it signaled a new level of professionalism and polish for Fes.

Hololive 4th fes. Our Bright Parade continued the momentum from 3rd fes. and inspired hololive members to reach for new heights. Our Bright Parade is a very fitting title for 4th fes. because whereas 3rd fes. set the stage for what was now technologically and logistically capable for hololive, 4th fes. was a vibrant showcase of what hololive members could now accomplish with these new resources. It was also the first concert for which overseas members were able to travel to Japan and perform alongside the other members. It’s clear that a much higher budget was allocated for the concert starting in 4th fes., as a new performance outfit was created for all members (called ブライト衣装 “Bright [Parade] outfit”), performances featured elaborate choreographies, and the venue stage was outfitted with more lights and stage props including confetti cannons, bubble machines, and paper airplanes.

Although 1st fes. and 2nd fes. had their charm and appeal, 3rd fes. and 4th fes. elevated the event into something more than just a yearly concert; it had started to become like a musical chronicle where every performing member authors a page of her hololive legacy. Performances at Fes would become vivid memories for hololive members and their fans, and the week leading up to Fes would be filled with excitement and anticipation about what song your oshi might perform and how she’ll impart her own personal style and flair to the stage.

5th fes. and 6th fes. rented more space from Makuhari Messe to increase the seating capacity and change the seating layout. Whereas 3rd fes. and 4th fes. had balcony seating, 5th fes. and 6th fes. moved all seats to the ground and experimented with different stage configurations to accommodate performing in front of such a large number of people. 5th fes. increased the number of concerts to 3: 2 held on the first day and 1 held on the second⁴.

And that brings us to hololive 7th fes. Ridin’ on Dreams, the focus of this post.

State of affairs going into 7th fes.

There have been a lot of ups and downs for hololive over the past year. Let’s start with the negative so we can finish with the positive.

Murasaki Shion, Nanashi Mumei, Gawr Gura, Hiodoshi Ao, and Amane Kanata have all graduated⁵ since performing at 6th fes. Inugami Korone and Akai Haato have announced they will be unable to perform at 7th fes. This amounts to a 7-member loss over the previous year’s concert, offset by the 9 members of DEV_IS FLOW GLOW and hololive English Justice making their debut appearance at 7th fes. for a net gain of 2 members, the lowest increase in performer totals at Fes in hololive’s history.

I feel like Amane Kanata will be particularly missed this year. As the most recent graduate and leaving the agency only two months ago, Kanata has always exerted a commanding presence over the Fes stage in spite of her diminutive stature. Her performance last year of 片羽 Kataha (roughly translated as “Single Wing”) was especially poignant, a song she co-wrote alluding to her struggles with Ménière’s disease and how the condition affects her in such a special and debilitating way as a musician. If you haven’t heard the song before, please have a listen to the music video below. You may have heard of the composer before: Toby Fox. 高く高くへ、かなたちゃん May you continue to fly to new heights, Kanata-chan.

Hololive 7th fes. will be the first time the hololive JP⁶ branch won’t make up the majority of the performing members, with its dwindling member count downgrading its total to a plurality. Fes is a Japanese idol concert by its very origin, and it’s concerning that the non-Japanese-speaking branches and the decidedly non-idol Japanese branch DEV_IS will together outnumber hololive JP at 7th fes., altering Fes’s core identity. However, the performer totals are very close, so let’s revisit this discussion next year at 8th fes. when new talent will have possibly debuted. Having not received any new members since 2021, hololive JP is in critical need of fresh talent to supplement past graduations and keep pace with the rapidly growing other branches. Any new members debuting in 2026 won’t get their 3D models in time to perform at 8th fes., but those debuts will give us a better perspective of whether hololive JP is a dying branch.

Now onto the positive!

What’s new for 7th fes.

For 7th fes., Cover Corporation will be renting Exhibition Halls 1-8 at Makuhari Messe as well as the Event Hall, totaling 57 098 square meters of space⁷. Halls 4-8 and the Event Hall will be used for Super Expo, and Halls 1-3 for Fes.

The seating layout has changed substantially over 5th fes. and 6th fes. 7th fes. will keep using 2 permanent physical stages like 6th fes., a reduction from the 3 of 5th fes. This is a good decision because the 3 stages of 5th fes. spread out the performers too much during the all-members songs and made each stage look sparse. The removable center stage doesn’t seem to be making a return despite its positive reception during 6th fes.

The grey dots are probably support beams, and the diagonal line through the middle is likely an aisle for the audience to walk to their seating section more easily. 6th fes. took place at Exhibition Halls 9-11, so the completely different seating layout between now and last year’s event is expected. However, I wouldn’t be surprised to see hololive do something creative with this new performance arena. Given the title of this year’s Fes is “Ridin’ on Dreams”, perhaps we’ll see something like a parade of chariots coming down that center aisle with 3D-projection screens for an even more immersive experience.

Now let’s talk about Stages with a capital S. At Fes, Stages are the individual concerts. As summarized in the Brief history of hololive fes. section, the number of Stages increased to 2 at 2nd fes. and again to 3 at 5th fes. This is a different matter altogether from the number of physical stages (with a lowercase s) at the venue, i.e. the platforms with projection screens on which the vtubers perform.

The Stage count is increasing once again this year to 4. It’s a bit of a strange decision because the performer count has only increased by 2 over last year, but it’s possible that Cover Corporation had made the arrangements for the venue with a better outlook on 2025 and didn’t expect as many graduations or expected to debut more talent by now.

It will be interesting to see how the reduced number of performers per Stage will affect each Stage’s concert length. Perhaps hololive will add more MC segments to pad the time. It’s also an opportunity to shake up the Fes playbook and allow the more talented members of each Stage to perform more than one solo song. I think this would be an exciting change, but very unlikely since it could be perceived as favoritism toward certain members. “One member: one solo song and one group song” hasn’t always been a rule at Fes, but it’s been the de facto standard for Stages since 3rd fes.

However, at some time after the initial publication of each Stage’s performer list, hololive added “Guest” performers to Stages 2 and 3. These Guest performers will be performing on two Stages, but they do not appear in the official artwork of the Stage for which they are a Guest, suggesting that the decision to add Guests might have been made much later in the Fes planning process. Shirakami Fubuki, Shirogane Noel, and Mori Calliope will appear as Guests on Stage 2, and Oozora Subaru as a Guest on Stage 3. With the addition of these Guests, the performer count is close to equal on all Stages (17 on Stage 2, 16 on the others). The only other time in Fes history that a member appeared on more than one Stage was Hoshimachi Suisei at 4th fes., but her appearance on Stage 1 of 4th fes. wasn’t announced ahead of time.

Let’s turn our attention to each of the Stages of 7th fes. and their composition of performers.

7th fes. Stages

Beginning in 2024 before 5th fes., I started making a “scorecard” before the Stages by assigning a ranking to each performer based on her singing ability and stage presence. I hoped that the scorecards would help introduce the members and Stages to new or casual fans of hololive and would give them some context about which performances most to look forward to. Hololive is a multifaceted talent agency, and some members have more aptitude for streaming or gaming than they do for singing and dancing. In the end, these rankings are fundamentally subjective, but I still hope that they may be interesting and informative.

I assign two values to each performer: a singing score and a performance score. The singing score is based on her range of vocals and ability to deliver her song to the audience. The performance score encompasses her dancing ability and overall stage presence.

Every year before Fes, I return to last year’s rankings and make revisions where I deem necessary. In doing so, I consider a performer’s growth during the last year with particular emphasis on her performance at the previous year’s Fes and any solo lives she may have had since then. A revision in a score from the previous year is reflected with a color coding in the scorecard images.

For the first time, I will attempt to guess the collaborations/pairings for group songs this year. This is complete guesswork just for fun, and you shouldn’t expect much accuracy for these predicted groups. I’ll mention my reasoning for my decisions if I have any, but most of these groups will be a total shot in the dark.

Predicting which songs will be performed is also nearly impossible, but I have a few hunches. I predict my oshi Hakui Koyori will sing her original song 爆ラブ＋ケミストリー “BAKU LOVE CHEMISTRY”. She’s performed an orisong every year since her debut at 4th fes., and this song’s catchy beat and energetic dance routine make it a fitting choice for the Fes stage and well suited to her preferred style of performance at Fes.

I’m rather confident that last year’s hit viral Love Live! song 愛♡スクリ〜ム! “Ai Scream!” will be performed as a three-member group song at 7th fes. This super-sugary idol song is guaranteed to sweeten up the crowd, but there are many viable trios for it. If you’ve never heard it before, get ready to melt from cuteness listening to the hololive cover below:

Hololive has debuted new members every year except 2025, but the number of Stages at Fes increases only every few years. Consequently, Fes Stages are “fuller” some years more than others. On “fuller” Stages, we expect to see more group performances with three or more members to reduce the number of total performances and keep the length of the concert relatively consistent with other years. At 7th fes., since the number of performers has increased only by 2 yet the Stage count has increased by 1, we expect to see a strong preference for duos.

The full integration of overseas members into Fes starting at 4th fes.⁸ has established some trends for cross-branch group songs. Overall, Fes setlists have demonstrated a bias toward same-branch collabs, but when a Stage has more than one cross-branch collab, the setlist leans more heavily toward cross-branch groupings. I’ve tried to keep these propensities in mind when making my group predictions, but in retrospect, my group selections may have an undue partiality toward cross-branch mixing (even though I personally believe that maximizing same-branch groups leads to better overall Stage performance quality).

Fes	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3
4th fes.	7:1	8:1
5th fes.	4:3 (1 EN+ID)	6:1	2:5
6th fes.	6:1	3:4 (1 EN+ID)	7:0

For each Stage, I’ll also highlight one of the solo performances that I think could be worth your special attention.

Stage 1

What a roaring opener! This Stage is stacked with an incredible amount of talent. Here’s one way of quantifying it: Shirakami Fubuki, Nekomata Okayu, Usada Pekora, Tsunomaki Watame, and Hakui Koyori⁹ have all had solo lives, more members than any other Stage. This Stage is also very JP-sided, with 11 of the 16 performing members from the holo JP branch and the largest ratios of all the Stages.

Shirakami Fubuki has always been strong and consistent on the Fes stage, but her “SUPERNOVA” showstopper at 6th fes. was one of the greatest performances in Fes history, by any member. It will be exciting to see how she follows that up here at 7th fes.

This Stage features a lot of “half-Gens”. You’ve got two thirds of JP Gen 2 and ID Gen 3, and half of JP Gen 3, Gen 5 (NePoRaBo), and Gen 6 (holoX). JP Gen 3 is coming off of their Generation live “#OperationHeartfulCuties ~You’ve Got No Choice but to Love the Strongest Idols~” just earlier this year, so I expect they’ll take the opportunity at this Fes to collab outside of their Gen.

We’ll look to this Stage to set the trend for 7th fes. about single-branch or cross-branch collab songs. Pairing Vestia Zeta with Kobo Kanaeru, and Ninomae Ina’nis with FUWAMOCO are totally viable same-branch combinations, but I’m predicting a different configuration:

My wishful thinking is that KoZMy will substitute in Nakiri Ayame and perform 愛♡スクリ〜ム! “Ai Scream!”, but I have to admit it’s unlikely they’d bring their cover of the song to Fes without AZKi. Yuzuki Choco has said she wants to expand her image this year beyond being the holomem “in charge of sexy”, but a collab with hyper-sexed Nekomata Okayu might be too tantalizing to resist. Shiranui Flare has long had a girl-crush on Ninomae Ina’nis, so maybe it’s finally time they perform together on the Fes stage. Shirakami Fubuki and FUWAMOCO have a good rapport and have done several stream collaborations. Usada Pekora and Tsunomaki Watame are both fantastic singers and would be a great first-time duo. Last Fes, Omaru Polka sang her orisong ぽ “Po”, the lyrics of which are only the syllable po over and over again, exuding a lot of chaotic, “crazy” energy and making her a good potential pair with fellow wildcard Kobo Kanaeru. That leaves out Takane Lui and Vestia Zeta, who don’t have any particularly strong inclination to pair together but have great voices and would make for a lovely duo.

We expect to see Color Rise Harmony performed as the opener for Stage 1, since 5th fes. has established the trend of opening with the previous Fes’s theme song. There’s a possibility they’d open with Our Bright Parade instead, but I’m expecting that song as some other Stage’s opener or as a midway song. And of course, Ridin’ on Dreams, the theme song of 7th fes., will be performed as the closer for all Stages.

Stage 2

Stage 2 brings a wide selection of ultra-talented JP members and the Fes debut of hololive English Justice. It’s also the first Stage to feature “Guest” performers.

Watch out for Sakura Miko on this Stage. Her beautiful rendition of “flower rhapsody” was a sensational closer to 6th fes., but after being the target of hololive antis and trolls for the past year, she might be emboldened to deliver a performance unlike ever seen before.

Tokino Sora, Sakura Miko, and Oozora Subaru performed as a trio at 6th fes., so we’d expect them to pair differently for 7th fes. Hololive English Justice is guaranteed to perform as a group here, but it’s a toss-up whether they’ll choose their orisong ABOVE BELOW or RENEGADE.

Just like Stage 1, there’s a viable configuration for Stage 2 that forgoes any branch-mixing. Mori Calliope could pair with Takanashi Kiara, and Airani Iofifteen could partner with Kureiji Ollie. In fact, TakaMori have never shared the Fes stage even though they’ve performed since 3rd fes. and have even been a part of the same Stage’s cast together. Will 7th fes. be their first collab song? Will Takanashi Kiara insist on a performance together to make up for Mori Calliope’s absence at the upcoming TakoTori concert just a few weeks later and imprint the three-member Gen HoloMyth’s mark on 2026 and the Fes stage?

Stage 2 has the most Guest performers: 3 whereas the other Stage with a Guest appearance has only 1. There hasn’t been any information about how Guest performers were selected or how they’ll participate on their Stage. It’s certainly a possibility that the three Guests could perform as their own unit together, but I’d instead expect them to integrate into groups with the main cast of the Stage.

Tokino Sora is pretty good friends with Airani Iofifteen. They’ve hung out in past HoloGTA events and it’s a little surprising they’ve never performed anything together at Fes, so I’m predicting that ends at 7th fes.

Briefly after 6th fes., Takanashi Kiara did a zatsudan/“Just Chatting” stream about her 6th fes. preparation and mentioned bonding more with Laplus Darknesss (sic, yep, she really spells her name with three s’s), who’s been a fan of Kiara and her music. It stood out to me when I saw Kiara and Laplus in the same cast for Stage 2 that perhaps a Fes collab has been in the works and that the seed was planted around when Kiara had that zatsudan stream. Bonus points—and a year in Kiara’s good graces—if Laplus performs a Kiara orisong for her solo. I think the bond between these two is stronger than TakaMori’s right now, so I’ve predicted this collab instead. And most of all: Kiara and Laplus released an original duet together called “Glow in the Dark” as part of the MythMash project, which has yet to be performed at a live venue. Of all my collab predictions, Kiara and Laplus performing as a duo at 7th fes. has my highest confidence level.

Mori Callope and Kureiji Ollie share a similar design theme and performance style. They’re both themed around death: Mori as the Grim Reaper and Ollie as a zombie. They both like loud, energetic music where they can flex the intensity of their vocals. So I think they’d make for a decent pair at 7th fes.

My other group predictions for Stage 2 are little more than guesses. Besides Miko with Mio, these groups have done very little together, but Fes is a time to innovate with unconventional pairings, so they’re indeed plausible.

Stage 3

DEV_IS Gen 2 FLOW GLOW make their Fes debut on 7th fes. Stage 3. Joining them are a duo of ID, a trio of EN, and a sextet of JP members.

My “who to watch for” on this Stage is Kazama Iroha. Sure, there’s a lot of proven talent here: AZKi is one of hololive’s top singers, Natsuiro Matsuri and Oozora Subaru always bring their A-game to the Fes stage, and IRyS and Hakos Baelz rank among the strongest voices from the overseas branches. But Kazama Iroha’s performances at every Fes have been nothing short of spectacular, and I dare say she’s the most overlooked and underrated performer of hololive. Let’s keep a watchful eye on her during 7th fes.

DEV_IS Gen 2 FLOW GLOW, hololive’s newest members, will assuredly take the stage as a group, performing either “FG ROADSTER” or “MAKE IT, BREAK IT”. DEV_IS is the performance-centric branch of hololive, but as the most recently-created branch, they haven’t yet had many opportunities to show off their abilities. This is especially the case for DEV_IS Gen 2, whose 3D models have only become available in time to perform at their 3D debut concert and the hololive New Year’s Eve Countdown Live 2025▷2026. Look for them to come out with something to prove.

With FLOW GLOW as likely the only fivesome of 7th fes., there’s no set of combinations for the rest of the Stage 3 cast that creates seven groups. I looked at the setlists of 5th fes. and 6th fes. as a model for my group-performance predictions, and they both featured seven groups on all Stages. In addition, 5th fes. had a number of performers on each Stage similar to 7th fes. and still managed to allocate seven groups. I’ve “hedged my bets”, so to speak, by predicting seven groups for Stages 1 and 2, and six groups for Stages 3 and 4.

I’m predicting we’ll see all same-branch collabs for Stage 3 except for Oozora Subaru pairing with Hakos Baelz. These two have really gotten closer over the years in big streaming events like HoloGTA and Minecraft, and they both have boisterous personalities that play well off of each other. Hakos Baelz has even become a deputy of the “Oozora Police”. With their exceptional singing ability and overflowing stage presence, it’s hard to believe we still haven’t seen them paired together at Fes.

AZKi and Kazama Iroha make for another super-wholesome duo. They spent all of last Christmas Eve and Christmas at Iroha’s house doing a special stream that featured karaoke and call-ins from other members. They’d be great together singing a cheery idol song on the Fes stage.

The pairs of Ayunda Risu and Pavolia Reine, and IRyS and Shiori Novella, are both same-branch groups (ID and EN) and have taken the stage as larger groups before. However, these members have never performed as a duo together, so there’s some novelty in this selection that would fitting for Fes.

There’s some history between Natsuiro Matsuri and Himemori Luna that goes way back. Matsuri used to fawn over Luna, who entertained her feelings for a while but was eventually put off by Matsuri’s overbearing affection, creating a rift between them. Matsuri has since moved on and is now showering Stage-mate Isaki Riona with her attention. Maybe look for these two to do an MC segment together. The awkwardness between Matsuri and Luna is surely long in the past by now, so a Fes group performance could be in the cards. I’ve added Shirogane Noel to the group for some buffering between them. Jokes asides, I think this would be a fun trio for 7th fes. Think back to last year’s Stage 1 and the first collab song of 6th fes.: Natsuiro Matsuri, Laplus Darknesss, and Momosuzu Nene’s high-energy performance of Idol Life Starter Pack. I envision a similar upbeat song for this threesome at 7th. fes.

A fun little factoid: the sultry Vocaloid song “Gimme×Gimme” has been performed every year on Stage 3 since the Stage’s creation, first at 5th fes. by Nekomata Okayu and Moona Hoshinova, and then at 6th fes. by Yukihana Lamy and Shishiro Botan. Will it grace Stage 3 yet again this year? (Probably not.)

Stage 4

7th fes. reaches its climax with an ensemble that includes the strongest performers in hololive. However, the supporting cast is nowhere near as experienced or talented as the Stage’s frontrunners. How will that affect the finale?

“Whose solos should” — Hoshimachi Suisei and Tokoyami Towa. Before you can even ask the question, the answer is clear as day. When Suisei and Towa are on the same Stage, you know something special is going to happen, hopefully in a group performance as well, but at the very least during their solos. If Fes is a stone, Suisei and Towa are the sculptors, and their voices are the chisels. Their performances leave an indelible mark on the Fes stage and the audience’s memory of the whole event. When you’re watching 7th fes., the moment you see that sky-blue ponytail or those bright-purple twintails appear on stage, take a deep breath and get ready: you’re about to witness Fes history be made.

This is the hardest Stage for collab predictions. It has members from all four branches of hololive, but unlike on Stage 3, the DEV_IS members are eligible to collab outside of their Gen. Since DEV_IS Gen 1 ReGLOSS performed together last December at their first Generation live “Flashpoint”, and they’ll perform many more times together at future lives, I expect Fes will be their opportunity to sing with members outside of their branch. Pairing up ReGLOSS into two groups of two is, however, within the realm of possibilities.

This Stage has the highest highs and the lowest lows. Kaela Kovalskia’s strong points are her video-game skills and her high endurance, not her singing ability. Ouro Kronii’s singing isn’t much better. Koseki Bijou is improving as a performer, but she still needs a high-octane, booming EDM track to compensate for her lackluster vocals. And then on the other side of the spectrum: Hoshimachi Suisei is the most talented singer in all of hololive, and Tokoyami Towa comes close to being her equal. We cannot group together members with such a large disparity in singing ability, so we need to be mindful of that for predictions.

The strategy developed by past Fes events has been either to add a poor performer into a trio or quad so that the other members can help mask her underwhelming vocals, or to choose one exceptionally good singer to carry a group of poor performers. Nevertheless, Hoshimachi Suisei and Tokoyami Towa’s performances are so valuable that we cannot expect them to fill this role for the less-talented performers.

And another note about Suisei and Towa: these two have collaborated at 3rd fes., 4th fes. (as a trio with Minato Aqua), and 6th fes. It’s clear that they have a fondness for performing together, but it seems unlikely they’d take the stage as a duo again since they just did so last Fes. If they group up, I’d expect to see them as a trio with another member.

After a long deliberation, I’ve settled on these groups as my predictions for Stage 4. Like all Stages, they’re complete guesses, but my confidence in these predictions is the lowest of all the Stages. On the upside: Stage 4’s unpredictability is an opportunity for hololive to surprise us with an unforgettable finale to 7th fes.

From left to right, top to bottom: The good-singer collab, the Maldives collab, the sexy-dance collab, the EN-carry collab, the ID-carry collab, and the shortie collab.

Yeah, I struggled to find much logic to go off of here, but it’s worth noting that Fes groups intend to be novel and unpredictable. Sometimes a shot in the dark can have better accuracy than you might expect. Besides Ichijou Ririka with Juufuutei Raden, Hoshimachi Suisei with Tokoyami Towa, and Hoshinova Moona with Kaela Kovalskia, no one in these groups has even stepped on the Fes stage together. In fact, Mori Calliope has had a tendency to collab outside of her branch, pairing with JP members in 5th fes. and 6th fes., so perhaps she’s due for a holoEN collab here at 7th fes. In Moona’s case, her collab with Kaela was a trio last year with Kureiji Ollie, so the opportunity for a duo here would be fresh. And if the Maldives group really comes together, Takanashi Kiara can kick back in her chair and admire her “souvenirs” from the trip while she watches.

To wade a little bit into the territory of conspiracies: Cover Corporation would really like to shill ReGLOSS here, the 1st Generation of their newest branch whose Youtube channels underperformed in important metrics (subscriber count, viewer count, etc.) at the start but have gradually been improving and building momentum. They can’t afford to sacrifice ReGLOSS’s performances by pairing them with members who sing poorly, and my predictions take that into consideration. In fact, it wouldn’t be out of the question to see ReGLOSS members get the coveted Suisei or Towa collab.

Another contingency to my predictions is that Towa and Calli released an original duet last year, Queen of the Night as part of the MythMash project. This song was performed by them at hololive English 3rd Concert -All for One-. Performances at hololive English’s real-venue concerts have very little effect on the “freshness” of the song for consideration at Fes, and it’s not uncommon for EN members to bring the same orisong from the EN concert to Fes. The same is true for Generation group songs, but outside of Generation debut appearances at Fes, members grouping up the same way for both the English concert and the next Fes hasn’t been seen. Therefore, I think it’s a matter of whether you think Towa and Calli’s duet song is good enough to warrant a second performance at 7th fes.; I’ve predicted that it’s not.

Hoshimachi Suisei’s group performance has closed out every Stage she’s performed on since 3rd fes.: 3rd fes. Stage 1, 4th fes. Stage 1 (as a “special guest”), 4th fes. Stage 2, 5th fes. Stage 3, and 6th fes. Stage 1. That’s a stunning achievement and an honor that could only be bestowed on the greatest singer in hololive. So no matter who gets the Suisei collab, expect it to close the show and 7th fes.

7th fes. theme song: Ridin’ on Dreams

The theme song is of critical importance for Fes. It will be performed on every Stage by all members, and its message and melody will become emblematic; every future performance of the theme song will harken back to that Fes.

The theme song of hololive 7th fes. Ridin’ on Dreams was released at midnight in Japan on February 19, 2026.

Although I cannot fully evaluate this song until I see it performed on stage with its choreography, I’m absolutely delighted by the choice to have this song represent 7th fes. The song’s message is beautiful: a love letter to hololive’s fans that reminisces about all these years spent together. It contains overt references to Shiny Smily Story and Our Bright Parade, the theme songs of 1st fes. and 4th fes., which are also perhaps the two most iconic Fes theme songs.

The lyrics are rich with kinetic imagery, paralleling the language of Our Bright Parade and quite fitting for such a dynamic title as Ridin’ on Dreams. As stated at the end of the song’s intro, “さあ乗り込もう！ [C’mon, let’s hop on board!] Ridin’ on dreams, yeah!”

Other excellent features that make it a worthy Fes song are the good fluctuations of melody and sections of crescendo, the spirited chorus that has all members call out and shout, and the break in instrumentals to emphasize certain emotionally-charged lines of lyrics.

I congratulate 小池竜暉 Ryuki Koike for composing what will likely be regarded as another one of hololive’s masterpieces. After his compositions of Shirakami Fubuki’s stellar orisong SUPERNOVA and Momosuzu Nene’s super-catchy カラカラ Karakara, it’s not surprising to see hololive call upon him again to fill this prestigious role.

Shiny Smily Story references

Let’s begin with the Shiny Smily Story references. Both Shiny Smily Story and Ridin’ on Dreams contain the lines らしく輝きたい・輝いていたい “I want to shine in my own special way”, with the Ridin’ on Dreams variant using the continuous-aspect conjugation 輝いていたい to emphasize the ongoing, persistent nature of the desire (“I keep wanting to…”). This creative use of verbal forms adds temporal context to the song, inviting the listener to reflect on these past six years since 1st fes., and alludes to hololive idols’ unwavering dedication to their fans even as the agency continues to grow and face challenges.

Both songs also mention 終わらない夢・夢では終われない (“a dream that doesn’t end” in SSS, “a dream that cannot end” in RoD), 想像（も）越える (“surpassing even imagination”), and わくわく止まらない (“I can’t hold back my excitement”). In addition, the penultimate stanza of Ridin’ on Dreams mirrors the penultimate stanza of Shiny Smily Story with similar language, symbolism, and messaging.

Our Bright Parade references

Now let’s look at the Our Bright Parade references. First, I don’t think it would be off the mark to affectionately call Ridin’ on Dreams “Our Bright Parade 2.0”. There are so many parallels between these two songs that it’s getting me excited wondering if this could be a hint that 7th fes. will take a lot of inspiration from 4th fes.

Our Bright Parade is a whimsical and innocent story about two metaphorical 迷子 maigo “lost children/runaways”. The first child, the song’s protagonist and narrator, runs away in search of the “Parade” and finds the second child along the way: ほら 今 迷子は「僕等」になった “Looks like we’re both runaways now”. The song is full of beautiful and poetic imagery, but to distill its central analogy to make it obvious: the first child is the idol, the second child is her fans, and the Parade is hololive or perhaps 4th fes. itself.

Our Bright Parade culminates about two-thirds’ way through the song with the following stanza, replete with chiming bells and climactic, booming instrumentals:

相応しい旅路とは 君と在ることさ
君と在ることなんだ
「ただいま」を聞けば
「おかえり」って叫ぶよ
当たり前じゃないか

— Our Bright Parade climax

Here’s my English translation:

What makes for a fitting journey is being with you
In fact, it’s all about being with you
And when I hear you say “tadaima”,
I’ll shout out “okaeri”
Without a moment’s hesitation

Remember that this is the language where we’re taught that “The Moon is beautiful” actually means “I love you”. In Japanese, ただいま tadaima and おかえり okaeri are words said to each other as a social ritual when someone returns home. These lines are a confession from the first lost child that she’s found her new home. The lines immediately after this are: Parade, parade, parade! 輝くんだよ。暗がりを満たすのは君だ 僕だ！ “The Parade sparkles. What fills the darkness? It’s you! It’s me!”

Our Bright Parade refers back to 1st fes. Nonstop Story with あの日 ゼロに始まったストーリー “That day, when the Story started out of nothing”. References in Fes theme songs to 1st fes. or Shiny Smily Story are quite common, but this link between 1st fes., 4th fes., and now 7th fes. is particularly interesting.

Ridin’ On Dreams connects Shiny Smily Story and Our Bright Parade in its first verse:

あぁ 小さな夢から
想像できないような
想いになったんだ
わくわく止まらない！
何度迷ったって僕ら
絆が舵になる
ちょっとの不安だってさ
吹き飛ばせちゃうんだよ

— Ridin’ on Dreams 1st verse

In English:

Ah! From a small dream
Experiences and emotions¹⁰ come
That would hardly seem imaginable.
The excitement doesn’t end!
No matter how many times we lose our way,
Our bond will serve as the helm.
Any bit of anxiety
Will vanish away in an instant!

The lines up to “The excitement doesn’t end!” refer to 1st fes. and Shiny Smily Story, with わくわく止まらない being taken verbatim from that song. The lines afterward echo the journey of Our Bright Parade, with 何度迷ったって僕ら “No matter how many times we lose our way” being a direct reference to the 迷子 “lost children/runaways” of that song.

Ridin’ on Dreams feels like a sequel to Our Bright Parade right from the start. Here’s the song’s intro:

ねえ、君がいたからだよ
ねえ、ありがとうを何度も
今すぐに伝えたいんだ
さあ乗り込もう！Ridin’ on dreams, yeah!

— Ridin’ on Dreams intro

In English:

Hey, it’s all because you’ve been with me.
Hey, I want to tell you right away,
“Thank you” more times than I’d ever be able to count.
So let’s hop on board together! Ridin’ on dreams, yeah!

You could imagine the same 迷子 “runaway” protagonist from Our Bright Parade uttering these words, the one who confessed that being together is what makes the journey, except that the mood is completely different now. Whereas the protagonist of Our Bright Parade is starry-eyed and naïve, these lines sound like from someone much more self-assured, experienced, and mature: someone who’s now gone on several journeys and acquired new perspectives. 4th fes. took place at a time when hololive was entering its prime and Our Bright Parade’s lyrics were about foraying into the exciting unknown ahead as hololive took over the world stage and gained international renown, whereas Ridin’ on Dreams is both reflective of those journeys now in the past and enthusiastic for the ones that still await in the future.

The next lines after the first verse of Ridin’ on Dreams evoke Our Bright Parade once again:

果てない旅路を今
漕いでる途中に困難もあるでしょう
それも力に変えて
一緒に進むんだよ！

— Ridin’ on Dreams 1st pre-chorus

And in English:

The journey’s not over yet, now
There may be some hardships as we push through the road ahead
But we’ll convert even those hardships into our strength
And move forward together!

The term 旅路 tabiji “journey” is an uncommon word in Japanese. It is much more literary and poetic than conversational. According to my research, it appears in Tsunomaki Watame’s “Melody For You”, Tokino Sora’s “Hanadoki no Sora”, and ReGLOSS’s “Shunkan Heartbeat”, but here in Ridin’ on Dreams and the confession in Our Bright Parade are the only two instances that this word appears in a hololive ensemble song. Therefore, I believe its usage here is an overt reference to Our Bright Parade and an assertion that Ridin’ on Dreams is the continuation of Our Bright Parade’s “journey”.

The two lines in Ridin’ on Dreams ねえ、君と会えたことが / ねえ、宝物だ から “Hey, the fact I was able to meet you / Hey, it’s been a treasure to me” reflect a similar sentiment to Our Bright Parade’s 君を見つけたこと 胸を張れるよ “I can be filled with pride that I found you”. I find these lines so heartwarming and beautiful. They also epitomize the difference in tone between the two songs: Our Bright Parade portrays an exciting blossoming relationship whereas Ridin’ on Dreams depicts a mature and committed one.

That commitment is reaffirmed in the first half of Ridin’ on Dreams’ second verse:

急な風が僕らの
行く先乱そうとも
あの日誓ったんだ
覚悟は揺るがない

— Ridin’ on Dreams 2nd verse

In English:

Even if a sudden gale
Wreaks havoc on our way forward
I took a vow on that day
That my resolve would never waver

What does “I took a vow on that day” mean!? This line uses the verb 誓う chikau, which has a much greater semantic strength than of making an ordinary promise like 約束する yakusoku suru. I combed through the lyrics of hololive’s discography as best I could, but I found no other use of the verb 誓う or its inflections. This isn’t an explicit reference to Our Bright Parade, but perhaps a spiritual one. I’d be curious to hear any theories about what specific day あの日 might be referencing. I like to think it’s left intentionally ambiguous so that the listener may consider it to be the day they chose their oshi, and thus, their oshi reciprocating.

And so, all of these connections to 1st fes. and 4th fes. lead me to my craziest prediction of them all…

Wrapping up: The 1-4-7-10 Theory

It’s been 3 years between 1st fes. and 4th fes., and another 3 years between 4th fes. and 7th fes. Three years from now will be 10th fes., and you can expect an enormous celebration for that milestone. Japan is quite fond of number symbolism, and I presented evidence last section that 1st fes., 4th fes., and 7th fes. are connected through their theme songs. I believe hololive is setting up for these Fes events all three years apart to share a special thematic bond.

Therefore, I predict 7th fes. will leave all the group songs for the end of every Stage.

This doesn’t include the all-members songs. I still expect every 7th fes. Stage to open and close with an all-members performance, with the possibility of having one or two all-members songs in the middle as well. However, for the collab songs and full-Gen songs, I predict these will all be done one after the other at the end of the Stage, after all the solos have been performed. This was a characteristic of the setlists of only 1st fes. and 4th fes.,¹¹ and if hololive wishes to emphasize the connection between 1st fes., 4th fes., and 7th fes. as they alluded to in the Ridin’ on Dreams theme song, choosing this setlist design paradigm for 7th fes. would be a clever tactic.

And that covers everything you need to know ahead of hololive 7th fes. Ridin’ on Dreams. I’ll be back after the event with a follow-up post summarizing the top performances of each Stage and how my predictions turned out. Enjoy 7th fes., and may your oshi shine her brightest on the stage!