Lake Towada Kosui Matsuri & Aomori Nebuta

There's a festival at Lake Towada this coming Saturday and Sunday (17-18th). Weather permitting, there will be fireworks from 8-9pm on both nights and during the day there will also be various events/performances (Yosakoi, taiko, etc.)

Last year the fireworks were canceled due to rain and strong winds, but I went two years ago and had a good time. This year I'm planning on going to watch the fireworks on Saturday night with a friend (yay! a chance to wear my yukata!) and then I'll be heading down Sunday morning with the taiko group I practice with. I won't be performing, but I'll be going to help move the taikos, and to (hopefully) be generally useful. =P  So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather will cooperate...

For more detailed information, check out the website (Japanese only) at http://www.kosuimaturi.com/

Speaking of festivals, Aomori Nebuta is also coming up in less than a month! The Festival runs from the 2nd-7th of August every year. Here's a rough schedule for this year's events:

Aug. 1st:
18:00~21:00 Festival "Eve" Celebrations
19:00~20:40 Fireworks at Asamushi Onsen

Aug. 2nd-3rd:
19:10-21:00 Children's Nebuta (15 floats); Large Nebuta (15 floats)

Aug. 4th-6th:
19:10-21:00 Large Nebuta (~20 floats)

Aug. 7th:
13:00-15:00 Large Nebuta (~20 floats)
19:15~21:00 Fireworks & Setting Nebuta to Sea

This is all from the Japanese website: http://www.nebuta.jp/schedule/2010schedule.html. There *is* an English site, but it doesn't have as much detailed info as the Japanese one. Still, it's a good place to start if you want to learn a bit about the history of Nebuta, how Nebuta floats are made, etc.

As big as this festival is in Aomori, in almost three years of living in the prefecture, I still haven't managed to see the festival yet. And it looks like this year I won't be able to make it out either, due to the timing of the arrival of the new Towada ALTs plus the junior high school Canada trip (海外発見).

Ah well. I just need to make sure I make it out at least once before I leave Aomori for good! =P