TOKYO >> The “Setouchi Triennale 2019” modern art festival is setting up a summer presentation on islands throughout the Seto Inland Sea. It features exhibitions and performances from Japanese and foreign artists.

The event runs July 19 to Aug. 25 and resumes from Sept. 28 to Nov. 4. A spring stint concluded last month.

First held in 2010 to revitalize islands suffering from shrinking populations, the festival takes place every three years. This year marks the fourth edition, which is being staged on islands in Kagawa and Okayama prefectures, including at Takamatsu and Uno ports in Tamano, Okayama prefecture.

More than 200 individual artists and art groups from more than 30 countries and regions are participating.

An opening ceremony was held April 26 at Takamatsu Port, which was crowded with tourists headed for the festival’s host islands.

“I’m excited because I heard you can enjoy both art and nature,” said a 28-year-old company worker from Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture.

The Setouchi islands ranked seventh on The New York Times’ list of “52 Places to Go in 2019” and was the only entry from Japan. The newspaper praised the festival’s “balance of nature and art” in the islands.

Many foreign tourists are expected to visit, with the festival’s committee forecasting higher attendance than the 1 million visitors to the last festival in 2016.