The Obon festival returns to San Jose’s Japantown July 14-15, celebrating its 77th year. The Obon festival, organized by San Jose Buddhist church, celebrates and honors those who have passed away and it is a celebration of life with friends and loved ones.
The event will feature several performances, with more than 1,000 dancers scheduled for each day of the festival. Some of those performers include UCLA Kyodo Taiko, UC Irvine Jodaiko, San Jose Taiko and UC Berkley Raijin.
Food booths will also be present at the event, along with carnival games and activities for kids.
In addition to opening it’s doors to the public and holding free classes on Buddhism during the festival, the San Jose Buddhist Church has partnered with “Nothing Wasted Consulting” and the “City of San Jose Environmental Services” in an effort to make this year’s Obon Festival an environmentally friendly event. The Obon festival will have green compostable containers and blue recyclables containers throughout Japantown to help keep the festival clean.
The event is free and open from 11:30am to 10:30pm on Saturday and 11:30am to 8:00pm on Sunday.
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