{"id":1674,"date":"2025-05-18T18:17:38","date_gmt":"2025-05-18T09:17:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hoteltavinos.com\/en\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=1674"},"modified":"2026-04-10T14:03:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T05:03:21","slug":"kyoto-gion-matsuri","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/hoteltavinos.com\/en\/blog\/kyoto-gion-matsuri\/","title":{"rendered":"Gion Festival: Experience the Largest Summer Festival in Kyoto"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/hoteltavinos.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/gion01.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1677\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"c-text-box lazyblock-text-box-ZvOoVn aligndefault aligndefault  wp-block-lazyblock-text-box\">\n            <p>Gion Festival (<em>Gion Matsuri<\/em>, \u7947\u5712\u796d\u308a) is one of Japan most famous and historic festivals. Held every July in Kyoto, its long history dates more than 1100 years back, when it was first performed as a religious ceremony to calm and appease gods during an epidemic outbreak, and since then has evolved into a vibrant, month-long celebration deeply rooted in life of locals.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n\n<div class=\"p-table-of-contents js-table-of-contents lazyblock-table-of-contents-pppzl wp-block-lazyblock-table-of-contents\">\n  <p class=\"p-table-of-contents__heading\">Content<\/p>\n  <ul class=\"c-list p-table-of-contents__list js-table-of-contents__list\">\n  <\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Yamaboko Float Parades<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"c-text-box lazyblock-text-box-1Hsx2Y aligndefault aligndefault  wp-block-lazyblock-text-box\">\n            <p>The highlight of Gion Festival is the grand parade of wooden floats, known as\u00a0<strong>Yamaboko<\/strong>, a word that combines the two types of floats featured in the parade:\u00a0<strong>Yama<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<strong>Hoko<\/strong>.<br><br>The smaller floats can be carried on shoulders, while the biggest ones needed to be pulled on wheels by teams of people.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"635\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/hoteltavinos.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/gion02.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1678\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"c-text-box lazyblock-text-box-2w9y9v aligndefault aligndefault  wp-block-lazyblock-text-box\">\n            <p>There are 34 floats in total and they divided into two parades:<br>\u25cf\u3000Early Festival (<em>Saki Matsuri<\/em>, \u524d\u796d) on July 17th: the first, most famous parade, features 23 floats.<br>\u25cf\u3000Late Festival (<em>Ato Matsuri<\/em>, \u5f8c\u796d) on July 24th: second, smaller parade features 11 floats, that are not shown during the first parade.<br><br>Each float is craftily decorated with tapestries and carvings, creating a truly magnificent procession.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"840\" height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/hoteltavinos.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/gioncollage01.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1680\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"c-text-box lazyblock-text-box-ZvqDW3 aligndefault aligndefault  wp-block-lazyblock-text-box\">\n            <p>However, their purpose is much more than just a carefully crafted pieces of art; these floats act as vessels that purify city and prepare streets for another grand procession.<br><br>\ud83c\udfee<strong>Festival Tip:<\/strong>\u00a0You can take your time and admire the beautiful decorations of the floats during\u00a0<strong>Yoiyama<\/strong>, the nights before parades, when the beautifully lit up floats are stationed in different parts of the city. It&#8217;s the perfect chance to appreciate their fine details up close.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"840\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/hoteltavinos.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/gioncollage02.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1682\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"c-text-box lazyblock-text-box-Z1xVFRF aligndefault aligndefault  wp-block-lazyblock-text-box\">\n            <p>\ud83d\udcdd\u00a0<strong>Did you know?<\/strong>\u00a0The Yamaboko Floats Parades are recognized as a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/ich.unesco.org\/en\/RL\/yama-hoko-yatai-float-festivals-in-japan-01059\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">UNESCO cultural heritage<\/a>\u00a0for their cultural and historic value.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mikoshi Togyo or portable shrine procession<\/h3>\n\n\n<div class=\"c-text-box lazyblock-text-box-Z1Lkpx7 aligndefault aligndefault  wp-block-lazyblock-text-box\">\n            <p>It is believed that\u00a0<strong>mikoshi<\/strong>, or portable shrines, contain spirits of actual deities. On the night of July 17th three mikoshi are taken from Yasaka Shrine and carried through the city to a temporally rest place (<em>Otabisho<\/em>, \u5fa1\u65c5\u6240), where they will stay for a week to bless and protect the city.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"545\" height=\"409\" src=\"https:\/\/hoteltavinos.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/gion08.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1683\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"c-text-box lazyblock-text-box-Z2waBc7 aligndefault aligndefault  wp-block-lazyblock-text-box\">\n            <p>The return procession of mikoshi takes place on July 24th, the same day as Late Festival.<\/p>\n      <\/div>\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Where to stay during Gion Festival in Kyoto?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"740\" height=\"493\" src=\"https:\/\/hoteltavinos.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2025\/11\/w.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1685\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n<div class=\"c-text-box lazyblock-text-box-2eUE7m aligndefault aligndefault  wp-block-lazyblock-text-box\">\n            <p>The Early Festival parade starts at 9:00 am at Shijo station, conveniently located in just 15-minute walk from HOTEL TAVINOS Kyoto. Alternatively, you can head to Kyoto-Kawaramachi station, which is located closer to hotel \u2013 the parade is supposed to reach this spot at 9:45 am, giving you extra time in the morning.<br><br>The parade will last for over two hours and will reach its end past Karasuma-Oike station at 11:20. The Late Festival parade will take the same route, but in reverse. Please note that the time is approximate and can vary depending on any unforeseen delays.<br><br>\ud83c\udfee<strong>Festival Tip:<\/strong>\u00a0On the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/kyoto.travel\/en\/see-and-do\/gion_tickets.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Kyoto Official Travel Guide\u00a0<\/a>you can see the routes taken during parades and where the floats are located before that.<\/p>\n      <\/div>","protected":false},"featured_media":1677,"template":"","format":"standard","blog_cat":[8],"class_list":["post-1674","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","blog_cat-kyoto"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Gion Festival: Experience the Largest Summer Festival in Kyoto - HOTEL TAVINOS [Official Website]<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hoteltavinos.com\/en\/blog\/kyoto-gion-matsuri\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Gion Festival: Experience the Largest Summer Festival in Kyoto - 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