Obon Festival and Dance

The reason why I love big diverse cities is that any day of the week you can come in contact with people from all cultures and traditions from all over the world. During my last visit to NY as I was walking near Bryant Park, I hear music and saw a lot of people gathered at the park... and I discovered the Obon Odori Festival.

The festival is organized by the New York Buddhist Church and it is celebrated to honor and connect with the spirits of one's ancestors. The celebration was beautiful as people gathered around traditional Japanese drums and danced to folk music.

Church members of all ages participated in the celebration dressed up in traditional costumes at the same time as they invited everyone around them to join them in the dance and celebration.

I could not help but being fascinated at the beautiful patterns of the clothes they were wearing {mostly kimonos}, the way they harmonized with the people around them, and the good energy they were transmitting all of us who were looking at them.

Unfortunately, the video I took was too large to upload here but I found this one that give you a pretty good idea of what I got to experience.

Have a beautiful and peaceful day!