Winter's Fairytale: Bon Odori

I just came back from my very first Bon Odori. I'm happy and tired now. The first time I heard of Bon Odori was from Mintos when I saw her photos in her blog. So when the chance came to attend one, I jumped to it with a vague idea on what the festival is.

What is a Bon Odori? To my understanding, Bon Odori is a Japanese festival, Jap version of Cheng Beng.

This is what I got when I wiki "Bon Odori" - Bon Odori (盆踊り, meaning simply Bon dance) is an event held during Obon (O-bon (お盆) or only Bon (盆) is a Japanese Buddhist holiday to honor the departed spirits of one's ancestors). It is celebrated as a reminder of the gratefulness one should feel toward one's ancestors.

There was such a turnout... I was rather surprised. This is their 31st Bon Odori festival here in Malaysia.

We got free fans, which served as a prop later and a life saviour because it was rather hot.

There were some who dressed for the occasion. They looked really pretty in yukata (Japanese summer dress)

This is my sis and June, striking a pose with double fans~!

" Pose guys! Looking good. "

The decorative lights were brightly red and white and stringed from the corners of the stadium to the center stage.

This is the center stage.

"Taiko wa Saiko" You've got to love the drums. As far as I know, drums do have quite a lot of symbolism attached to it, from raising morale to men in war to being a tool to awake the dead.

The last time I saw a yukata was my trip to Japan so seeing one again was really pleasant.

The children looked so adorable in the yukatas.

Here's a girl and boy version for each of the gender's yukata.

There were a lot of people that came - friends, family, relatives.

But it's nice to bump into some unexpected friends there.

My sister and her friends, while we were exploring the food stalls that were set up.

I bumped into Mintos and she wore her yukata today. Cool cool. I bumped into another friend too and he brought a better camera too. Note to him - "Show me the photos~!"

Most of the food that was available were Japanese food. Here's my younger sis with her fav sushi. *It's not surprising that the "Kitsune" likes her "Inari sushi" after all.

The crowd gathering around the center stage.

More people... So ya, the fans were really handy when you are in a crowd like this.

Now here's a line of girls in yukata who would be leading the Bon Odori dances...

when I happen to spot this cute little girl admiring them~!

And these are the drummers. Gosh, they're all so young. I suppose there's an age limit or something.

So young and energetic~! (I'm feeling older)

Two Taiko boys closer-up.

"Taiko wa Saiko"

I set the photo in sepia to show that this traditional festival has been around for quite a while. This is their 31st Bon Odori festival and it's held annually.