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This event has now passed. Please visit our Program Calendar to view upcoming events.

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INCLEMENT WEATHER NOTICE: Aug. 10 Obon Lantern Floating Ceremony postponed. Please keep reading for more information.

The Obon Lantern Floating Ceremony for Aug. 10 has been postponed to Aug. 11.

The Aug. 17 ceremony will take place as scheduled but is subject to postponement depending on the weather.

The 2024 Philadelphia Obon Festival has been cancelled.

For questions, concerns, or to reschedule your Aug. 10 lantern floating ticket for Aug. 17, please email us at info@japanphilly.org.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience.

Please stay tuned on our website and social media for further updates.

The Philadelphia Obon Festival continues this important Shofuso tradition, to light lanterns and float them on Shofuso’s pond. This night of remembrance and commemoration is dedicated to those no longer with us. Each registered participant will be able to choose if they would like to launch floating lanterns on Shofuso’s pond or simply observe the serenity of the experience.

Obon is a series of Summer events in Japan based on Buddhist and ancestral worship that enshrine and celebrate the spirits of ancestors. Typically, people return to their hometowns to celebrate Obon each year. Families gather, clean their graveyard and the shrine in their house, and light lanterns to welcome the spirits home. Mukaebi is the welcoming fire, or opening night of Obon. After the spirits spend a few days with family, the Bon-Odori dancers form a circle under the lanterns to guide the spirits back to the otherworld. This is the Okuribi, or culmination of Obon when the ancestors are sent back to the spirit world.

Details:
Beginning at 7:30 PM, registered participants can launch floating lanterns on Shofuso’s pond to honor loved ones. Doors open right at 7:30 PM. There will be food and drinks for those in attendance, as well as a musical performance on Koto by Mirai Yasuyama. The cost of $35 includes a floating lantern. Observer (without lantern) is $25. Members must sign in to get $10 off at checkout. Please email info@japanphilly.org if you have any questions.

** In case of inclement weather, the lantern floating will be held the following evening, August 11th at 7:30pm