Awa Odori Festival

Awa Odori, Japan's greatest traditional dance festival, is held in Tokushima City, in the remote prefecture of Tokushima on Shikoku Island. The Awa Odori, which takes place over many days in mid-August and has a 400-year history, is one of Japan's Three Great Bon Odori events, which are all large-scale traditional dances held during the midsummer holiday of Obon.

Awa Odori incorporates coordinated dance ensembles called "ren." There are a variety of ren of all sizes, including amateur ren made up of locals, highly trained professional ren, and ren made up of kids or firm personnel. Each ren has a men's and women's dance, with the men wearing traditional clothing and stockings and the women wearing a yukata and traditional straw cap with wooden clogs. Men's dance is intense and dynamic, but women's dance is polished and exquisite. Awa Odori is also known for its unusual duple time music, which is performed by a band that includes bells, flutes, shamisen, and taiko drums among other instruments.

Location: Tokushima, Japan

Date: Mid-August