Friday, July 17, 2009

Ogden Buddhist Obon Festival This Saturday

THAT'S TOMORROW, FOLKS! Saturday, July 18, 2009 4-10 pm. I'm a bit slow on the uptake here and I regret that, because this is one of my favorite Ogden summer activities! It's usually in August. I had to surf for these pictures, but I will be there for sure taking some of my own to post later.

Food, dancing, drumming, fun in the sun!

It's hot.

Obon (お盆) or just Bon (盆) is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the departed (deceased) spirits of one's ancestors. This Buddhist custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves, and when the spirits of ancestors are supposed to revisit the household altars.

Also called the Feast of Lanterns, it has been celebrated in Japan for more than 500 years and traditionally includes a dance, known as Bon-Odori.
Taiko means "drum" in Japanese (etymologically "great" or "wide drum"). Outside Japan, the word is often used to refer to any of the various Japanese drums (和太鼓, 'wa-daiko', "Japanese drum", in Japanese) and to the relatively recent art-form of ensemble taiko drumming (sometimes called more specifically, "kumi-daiko" (組太鼓)).

Ogden Taiko Drummers rock and rattle the earth when they get going. You can feel it rumble in your chest just as you sit, watch and listen.


Ogden Buddhist Church - www.buddhistchurch.com
155 North St, Ogden - (801) 392-7132

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