Daito Tanabata Festival

The Daito Tanabata Festival, said to date to 1574 with over 450 years of history, is a summer tradition of Daito, Unnan City. On the evening of August 6 each year, children dressed in yukata and happi coats carry bamboo Tanabata decorations with wish strips and lanterns, parading through the Daito shopping street with giant lanterns and floats to festive music. The Hikari-mai Hotaru dance, a children's Tanabata procession, Ushio Jindai kagura, and a children's fireworks event follow, culminating in about 1,500 fireworks launched from the Aka River embankment. It is cherished as a community tradition carried on as a prayer for peace.