Date: October 22

Venue: Heian Shrine, Kyoto

Details:

The Kurama Fire Festival in the mountainous village of Kurama honors Yuki Shrine and shrine's spirits, and lights up the night annually on October 22. Kurama Fire Festival is now one of Kyoto's most popular fire festivals, which features a majestic parade with hundreds of people bearing flaming torches from sunset until midnight.

Easily Kyoto's most theatrical parade, this festival is both dynamic and hot. The procession begins at dusk when small torches are lit in front of each house. The parade is also considered a rite of passage for youth. Children are first in the procession, holding small torches, followed by teenagers. The men of the village are the focus of the parade, carrying huge torches. A small number of village men carry mikoshi (portable shrines) up the road to the shrine. This is a show of great strength, as the mikoshi are incredibly heavy. The parade ends at Yuki-jinja Shrine, where the torches are piled on top of each other to create an enormous bonfire.