Going to Nikko on October 16th 2017?

Hi,
I presume you are referring to the Nikko Toshogu Shrine Autumn Grand Festival on Oct 16-17. So will there be a lot of people there? Of course - it is Japan. But not as many as some other festivals since it is being held on a Mon-Tue and not a holiday or weekend.
But the crowds will be around the Toshogu Shrine, mostly. There are a lot of other places to see in Nikko if you want.

For alternatives, you could go visit Kamakura and Enoshima. It is also much closer from Tokyo than Nikko. Up to you.

Best of luck.

Yes, that is the festival I meant. Sorry that I can't remember the full name of the festival.

I want to see other places in Nikko, but will that festival causing traffic jam to other places in Nikko like to Ryuzu Falls? Because if there is traffic jam, I'm afraid of wasting my time because we are on quite a tight schedule.

If I go to Kamakura or Enoshima, which one has more autumn vibes like Nikko? Is it Kamakura or Enoshima? I can see in Japan guide that some of temples in Kamakura has autumn leaves as background of their temples, so is Kamakura better for autumn feeling? Thanks for replying.

With a lot more people going to Nikko for the festival, it is inevitable that there will be more people going to see the other sights of Nikko as well. As to how much of a traffic jam that will turn into, nobody can say - every year is different.
For the autumn colors, your timing is very good for Nikko. But comparatively speaking, the autumn colors of Kamakura are much later - from late November most of the time, so if the autumn colors are your primary interest, you'd be too early to see them in Kamakura. Enoshima is a beautiful island, but there is a lot more in terms of its beaches and ocean scenery than autumn colors. You might consider some other spots if you want to see the colors mostly. You could try the Shosenkyo Gorge in Yamanashi, or Oze in Gunma or Karuizawa in Nagano. The first 2 are mostly scenic hiking. Karuizawa would have the most variety. A Tokyo Wide Pass might save you a lot if you don't have some other pass.

Thank you for replying! Yes, autumn colors is my primary target so I'm looking around for city near Tokyo that has autumn vibes like Nikko. Thank you for the suggestion.

As for traffic jam in Nikko, from your experience, how is the traffic jam for last year or past few years? Is it really bad? Did you stuck in traffic jam for around 2-3 hours? And need to wait 1-2hours to get into the bus like people reviewed in the internet?

Thanks for the information.

Hi,
I have not been to Nikko in mid-October so I can't give you any direct observations on that. But when the autumn colors come out in all their glory, word gets out very quickly and there are a lot more people going to see them than in other times. I am still unclear why you required to go to Nikko during the time of the festival. If you can avoid it, then by all means do so if you don't want to see it.
Another reason why you might want to skip Nikko (assuming you will be back again to see Japan some day) is that the Toshogu Shrine is under renovation and will be for the next several years.
So it's up to you on where you ultimately decide to go.

I'm arranging our schedule and the time we are able to go is on Monday October 16th or Sunday October 15th. I want to go to see the autumn vibes but still unsure whether our effort will pay off if we go to Nikko and only see the World Heritage site is enough.

And I dont know if I'll be able to go to Japan in autumn again, so another reason why I'm kind of insisting to go to Nikko. But I'll need to arrange my schedule again. Thank you so much for your reply. It helps me decide a lot. Maybe I'll try to make us go to Nikko on Sunday October 15th.. do you think it will be more crowded on Sunday and worse than Monday October 16th?

Thanks

Hmmm...tough question. But if I were you, I think I'd go on the 15th. It's a Sunday, but likely better than during the festival.