For Buddhists, O-Bon is the time to reflect upon the dedicated lives of departed ancestors who made our present lives possible. O-Bon is called "Gathering of Joy in gratitude." To celebrate, Bon Odori is a festival, in which young and old come together to dance, rejoice and remember their ancestors, family and friends. Participants wear brightly colored kimonos, yukatas and happi coats as they dance to traditional music.

It was thru an email that I heard about this festival. The Seattle area has 3 temples that were celebrating Bon Odori. By the time I got the email though, the other 2 had already had theirs and the one in Auburn was the only one left. Good thing since it was the closest to us!

Parked kind of far away. Luckily mommy brought the wagon. Next year we're bringing chairs for the adults - came THIS close to bringing them but then changed my mind. DOH! Plus we'll get there earlier since we were sitting/standing pretty far away from the action. They had set up bleachers around the court and then others who had gotten there early had set up their chairs and blankets. I think that Hayley would've had a much better time had she been able to see all of the dancing, etc. instead of just hearing the music.



















Chicken bento - course Hayley only ate the rice out of them



















We had the chicken bento and then also the beef bowl (stand with the guy cooking with the wok) - YUM














flavored ice that she only ate half of and then gave the rest to daddy



















Another cute little girl in her kimono



















The girl in the blue kimono had a crown and a sash on but I could never read what was on the sash.




















The last time I've seen these shoes were in Japan. This was a guy standing in front of me. I wonder if he knew that I was taking pictures of his feet? LOL!














the drum group













some pretty kimonos