🏮 Aomori Nebuta Matsuri

青森ねぶた

Aomori (青森市中心部の道路) · Every year, 2–7 August

Summer festivalTraditional performing artsFloats

322 days to go
Rooms around Aomori fill up while the festival is on.

The Aomori Nebuta Festival is a summer festival held in Aomori City, Aomori Prefecture, every year from August 2 to 7, organized by the Aomori Nebuta Festival Executive Committee. It was designated a national Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property in 1980, and as one of the Three Great Festivals of Tohoku, it attracts over one million visitors annually. The origin is commonly believed to be the Tanabata origin theory, which holds that the festival combines the Tanabata event of nemuri-nagashi (sending away sleep) with the Buddhist toro-nagashi (floating lanterns). It was once an event in which small lanterns made of bamboo and paper were floated down rivers or out to sea, but after the war they grew larger, developing into elaborate creations by nebuta craftsmen using wire frames and electric bulb and battery lighting. The highlight of the festival is the procession in which large nebuta floats parade through the city, held at night from August 2 to 6 and during the day on the 7th. Children's nebuta are paraded on the 2nd and 3rd, and on the night of the 7th, a sea procession in Mutsu Bay and a fireworks display are held. Around them, haneto dancers dance to the call of "Rassera," and visitors can participate as well. A dedicated app also provides GPS location tracking and multilingual audio commentary.