Gion Festival 2008

Posted by Kyle Yates in Kansai Events

The Gion Matsuri Festival is one of the three largest festivals in Japan. It is held for over an entire month. The parade during Gion is the largest event and takes place on July 17th. On that day, 32 huge wooden floats will be paraded through the city streets.

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A large majority of visitors to Gion dress up in traditional yukata and jimbe, summer kimonos, and walk around enjoying the festivities, eating, drinking and having fun.

Because it is so popular, no matter what time of the day you go, you are bound to run into large crowds of people. So prepare yourself and take liquids with you because the weather during Gion is usually pretty hot and humid.

To fully enjoy the parade, seat reservations are recommended and are available along Oike Street. Reservations are accepted from June 3rd. Reservations are 3,100 yen.

For more information, call Kyoto City Tourist Association at (075) 752-0227 between 9:00am and 5:00pm. You can also visit their website.