Tanabata Festival
The Milky Way separated the deities Orihime and Hikoboshi, but they are allowed to meet once every year, which is of course the perfect time for a street fair and lots of fun. Welcome to the Tanabata Festival!
While getting back to Kyoto we noticed, yet again, lots of people wearing yukatas and having fun in the streets, and as we got near the Kamogawa river we understood why. There was a street fair going on!
There were quite a few local tea farmers selling their products.
Of course we had to mix ourselves in the crowd and check everything with our own eyes. There were stalls with lots of traditional food, drinks and games, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves quite a lot.
If you are familiar with some kind of Japanese animation series, you’ll most probably recognise this fishing game. You have to catch the fish with a paper racket and put it in a bowl before the paper breaks.
Someone was on a winning spree!
He didn’t seem to be very good, but it was great to see everyone cheer on him.
Shaving ice the good old fashion way.
We felt again quite lucky to have encountered such an event without knowing it would happen.
Demonstration of Yuzen Nagashi dying technique: artists design patterns in silk material and cover it with a paste made of soap, which is then coloured and covered again with another paste made of rice; after the background covered is painted on with a large brush, the final stage is washing it down a river, in a rhythmic way to wash everything down and creat beautiful and vibrant colours.
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