2023 Obon Festival
Saturday, August 12, 3 PM - 7 PM, Free to All (Rain date August 13)
Shofuso celebrates the Obon Festival with bon odori folk dances by Seabrook Minyo Dance Group, and taiko drumming performances by KyoDaiko, Hoh Daiko (Seabrook Buddhist Temple) and Casual Fifth. Attendees can also enjoy arts and crafts, a yukata dressing station, as well as a vendor market. The event will take place outside of Shofuso and is free and open to the public.
2023 Obon Lantern Lighting Ceremony
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. 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.
The Philadelphia Obon Festival continues a new 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.
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