Sights From Obon Fest 2007

August 5th, 2007

I went to the Obon Fest on Saturday. The event took place at the Oregon Buddhist Temple, which went all out with food and craft booths, auctions, children’s activities, and dancing, dancing, dancing.

One of the highlights was seeing so many people in yukata, traditional Japanese summer garments.

As well as eating Japanese sweets like these manju ($7). The one with the bites in it was my favorite. It was a pumpkin cake with mochi inside.

Portland Taiko treated the crowd to a high-energy performance.

And the focus of the event: the dancing. Dancers formed a large circle and performed several different dances. Some dances were simple, involving a short series of steps repeated over and over. Other dances involved more steps and included fans or castanets. Everyone at the festival was invited to join in and follow along.

Go Tigers! (A Japanese baseball team.)

This woman had a cell phone clipped to her obi (belt). I love the combination of old and new.

Even baby joined in.

Admission was free, and my husband and I spent about $13 total (all on food). I’d say it was a reasonable price for an evening of entertainment and culture. I was too shy to dance, but next year…maybe next year….

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Entry Filed under: Entertainment,Events,Food,Frugal living,Music,Portland

4 Comments Add your own

1. gamefacepdx&hellip | August 6th, 2007 at 7:14 pm

I found a dance that they should add to the Obon Fest for next year:

Algorithm March video

Learn it by watching the solo dance instruction, but you won’t fully appreciate it until you see it all come together during the group dance at the second half of the video.
2. Get Some Culture « &hellip | August 6th, 2007 at 8:25 pm

[...] a long while since I’ve attended anything remotely cultural. So my wife and I went to the Obon Festival in Portland last Saturday. Honestly, I didn’t know what to [...]
3. Obonfest 2008: Spam Musub&hellip | August 2nd, 2008 at 12:07 am

[...] out sights from last year’s Obon Fest at Around the Sun. Oregon [...]
4. August 1-2: Mount Tabor t&hellip | July 31st, 2009 at 5:51 am

[...] out sights from the 2007 Obon Fest at Around the [...]

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