The "Hirosaki Neputa Festival" opened on August 1st in the central area of ​​Hirosaki City.

The festival is run jointly by floats centered around the fan-shaped neputa floats. "Hirosaki Neputa" is designated as an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property of Japan along with " Aomori Nebuta ". This year, for the first time in four years, the event will be held under the same conditions as before the corona disaster, and almost no one in the audience or participants of the festival wore a mask, and the ban on speaking and drinking was lifted.

This year, 64 organizations will participate in the joint operation. The service course will be the "Dotemachi Course" until August 4th, and the "Ekimae Course" on the 5th and 6th. On the 7th, "Nanukabi Okuri" is held on the Iwaki River near Iwaki Akane Bridge, where Neputa are purified with flames.

On the first day, 33 groups operated. To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the founding of Too Gijuku High School, the "Too Gijuku 150th Anniversary Commemorative Neputa", which was held for the first time in 40 years, attracted a lot of attention by raising funds through crowdfunding. In addition, there was a Neputa group participating in the joint operation for the first time in four years, although they were unable to work due to the coronavirus pandemic.

During the operation, there is the usual shout of "Ya-y-a-doo" and the performance of Hayashi and Taiko drums, and the pre-Corona Neputa Festival, which can be heard from the roadside, has returned.

Until August 7th.