Saga Shrine Tanabata Festival

A Tanabata rite held on the first Saturday evening of August at Saga Shrine in central Saga City, which enshrines the lords of the Saga domain including Nabeshima Naomasa. From around 7 p.m. a prayer ceremony is conducted on a special stage in the grounds, with wish-strips for skill, study, and good fortune offered before the deities. The rite is followed by a guest concert and performances of gagaku court music and kagura, coloring the magical summer evening. Bamboo and wish-strip decorations are set up so visitors can write and hang their own wishes—a centrally located shrine festival, popular with yukata-clad visitors.