Kawagoe Festival

On the third weekend in October we took a local train to the outskirts of of Tokyo. The Kawagoe Festival is Koedo-Kawagoe 's main festival of the year.  Famed for its Kurazukuri (traditional architecture) this city is one of the Kanto Region’s foremost sightseeing spots, and it attracts many visitors each year.

The Kawagoe Festival is a weekend long event. The Kawagoe Festival's strongest feature is the festival float event which reproduces the ’Edo Tenka Matsuri’ festival. Spectacular festival floats carrying exquisitely crafted dolls and men dressed as animals and musicians are pulled around the center of Koedo-Kawagoe’s landmark Kurazukuri (traditional architecture) Zone. There are many festival floats and it can get very busy as they pass by each other when meeting at an intersection. The traffic lights were moved to one side to allow the tall floats to pass by unhindered.

This is a family event and everybody appears to be very relaxed and happy. The wonderfully decorated floats from different towns and villages are pulled along by groups all dressed in matching kimonos.

Each float has a group of musicians and when two floats cross paths, they have a 'face-off' and play music against each other. The floats move around the town all day and there are many competitions between them. Apart from the floats, there are numerous stalls selling foods, saké and small souvenirs. Families spend the day wandering around the stalls and watch the floats competing against each other. When evening approaches, the floats take a break and after that, when it is dark, they are lit with lanterns and travel through the town again.

This was one of the most relaxed days we have spent since we came here. Families all seemed to be carefree and enjoying themselves. Some of the men appeared to be imbibing slightly larger quantities of saké and gradually became more and more red-faced as the day progressed, remaining cheerful and friendly all the while.

And even the doggies get dressed up for the day.....