Gion Matsuri

What:  Held annu­al­ly since 869, Kyoto’s Gion Mat­suri orig­i­nal­ly sought to appease the heath gods and bring purifi­ca­tion to the city to avoid an epi­dem­ic and plague – some­thing which is much need­ed in mod­ern times – and has evolved to incor­po­rate the orig­i­nal prin­ci­ple of good health, spir­i­tu­al well being, ancient his­to­ry, health and the selec­tion of a local boy to act as a divine mes­sen­ger to speak to the gods, with more mod­ern fes­ti­val ele­ments – includ­ing a series of street par­ties, rock con­certs, street food and drinks and parades.

Last­ing for the full month of July, the main events of Gion Mat­suri take place in the mid­dle of the fes­ti­val, with the streets of Gion and down­town Kyoto being closed to traf­fic to allow a series of street par­ties known as Yoi-Yama to take place over the course of three nights in prepa­ra­tion for the main event of the fes­ti­val known as the Yam­aboko Junkō parade, in which on the 17^th July 32 huge floats rep­re­sent­ing the his­to­ry of Kyoto and offer­ing wish­es to the gods are parad­ed through the streets of Kyoto – with vis­i­tors and locals enter­ing the floats for luck. The par­ties and parade is then repeat­ed lat­er in the fes­ti­val before in tra­di­tion­al fash­ion and in keep­ing with the core prin­ci­pals of the fes­ti­val the Gion mat­suri is bought to a close with a final purifi­ca­tion bless­ing inside the majes­tic Yas­ka shrine.

When: The fes­ti­val takes place in July, with the main parades tak­ing place on the 17^th & 24^th of July along­side the Mikoshi Pro­ces­sion. The three nights before each of these parades (July 14^th–16^th and July 21^st–23^rd) called Yoiya­ma see food ven­dors, music, parade view­ing and large crowds gath­er to cel­e­brate the fes­ti­val, with the fes­ti­val con­clud­ing on the 30^th of July with the Purifi­ca­tion at Eki Shrine in Kyoto.

Where: Gion Mat­suri take place in the city of Kyoto, Japan, in the Gion dis­trict. With the Yam­aboko Junkō parade and the prepa­ra­tion of the floats for the parade tak­ing place in the Shi­jō-Kara­suma area near the Kamo Riv­er along mul­ti­ple streets — but with the main one being along the street of Shi­jo-dori (so it’s rec­om­mend­ed to head here for the parade view­ing) – the final bless­ing of the fes­ti­val takes place at the Eki sub-shrine on the Yasa­ka Shrine grounds.

Dura­tion: The fes­ti­val lasts for almost the entire of the month of July,  while small­er par­ties and pro­ces­sions take place over the course of the month, the key events and parade cel­e­bra­tions tak­ing place from the 14 – 17^th and from the 21^st – 24^th – with the 14–16^th see­ing the three pre-parade Yoi-yoi-yama street par­ties and the cre­ation of the parade floats tak­ing place in the streets of Shi­jo-dori from dusk to 11pm – which is then fol­lowed by the main event of the fes­ti­val – the Yam­aboko Junko grand pro­ces­sion.

The Yam­aboko Junko pro­ces­sion begins at 9 am sharp on the 17^th of July – and see’s the incred­i­ble 30ft floats parad­ed through the down­town streets of Kyoto and in par­tic­u­lar­ly the gion dis­trict until 11:30am, with the sec­ond small­er pro­ces­sion – the pro­ces­sion of mikoshi tak­ing place from the yasak shrine and last­ing from 6pm to 11pm.

This is then fol­lowed by a repeat of the street par­ties from the 21^st – 23^rd of July and a sec­ond small­er pro­ces­sion with the same floats that sur­vive the first pro­ces­sion on the 24^th – before the final cer­e­mo­ny takes place on the 30^th of July at the Eki sub-shrine.

Tick­ets: Gen­er­al admis­sion to the Gion Mat­suri (includ­ing parade watch­ing and arti­fact view­ing) is free, as is atten­dance at the yoi-yama street par­ties. For the Yam­aboko Junko pro­ces­sion there are tick­et­ed seats, but giv­en the dis­tance the pro­ces­sion fol­lows there are plen­ty of view­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties down the main street of Shi­jo-dori – so it’s rec­om­mend­ed to skip the tick­et­ed seats and arrive a lit­tle ear­li­er to grab your­self a free view­ing spot to wit­ness the parade.

Need to Know: Gion Mat­suri is Japan’s most pop­u­lar fes­ti­val so book­ings well in advance are essen­tial, expect some long queues for the bless­ing and crowd­ed con­di­tions for the main parade so again it’s advised to arrive ear­li­er to get a spot along the parade route for best view­ing.  

More Infor­ma­tion: For more infor­ma­tion about vis­it­ing the fes­ti­val, includ­ing access and the floats in this years Yam­aboko Junko and where to receive a much need­ed bless­ing against epi­demics vis­it:  https://www.discoverkyoto.com/event-calendar/july/gion-festival-yasaka-shrine-downtown/