Aomori Nebuta Festival opened on August 2nd for the first time in three years.

Aomori Nebuta Festival is said to be one of the three major festivals in the Tohoku region, and is said to have its origins in the Tanabata Festival, where people pray for good health, and the Nemuri Nagashi festival, which is said to ward off evil spirits known as sleepiness before the busy autumn season in the Tohoku region, where rice is the main crop. one.

This year, various rules were set to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus infection. There are 17 large nebuta, five fewer than usual. Haneto has changed from the conventional free participation system to a pre-registration system, limiting the number of people to about 2000 throughout the period. The number of applications flooded in and exceeded 16,000 people, and it is said that the lottery that had been set up twice was all filled in the first selection. Since some groups limit the number of musicians who can perform, this year, it was decided not to select the "Flyer/Hayashi Award" and the "Hayashi Award."

In recent years, the operation course has been carried out by arranging all the nebuta and starting all at once, but this year, one by one from the starting point will be spaced out, and it will be rolled out in order, and it will end when it completes. Depending on the viewing location, all the Nebuta floats passed by in about an hour, and in some cases it took more than two hours, including waiting time. It is also called "streaming", and this method was used until 2000 (Heisei 12).

Aomori citizens also said, "It feels like I've returned to the past, and I feel nostalgic. The time I've been waiting for is getting me excited." On the other hand, some people said, "I'm used to the simultaneous start and it's a little unsatisfactory."

A woman in her 40s said, "An acquaintance said that he was grateful for this event for the sake of the children's future. Although the numbers and number of participants were small, I was able to see the Nebuta for the first time in three years, and I was able to enjoy it with my children." I was thrilled to be able to experience Aomori's summer." A man in his 50s said with tears in his eyes, ``Although it doesn't have the roaring bustle of the past, I'm just happy that the Aomori Fire Festival is back.''

The spectators along the route responded with applause and turned their cameras and smartphones to the shouts of “Rasseler, Rasseler” that the jumpers shouted through their masks.