Iida-machi Toroyama Festival

The Iida-machi Tōrōyama Festival is a float festival held every July 20th and 21st as the festival of Kasuga Shrine in Iida-machi, Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture. A traditional event coloring summer in Suzu, located at the tip of the Noto Peninsula, it is known as a spirited and splendid festival in which floats bearing enormous figures called "tōrōyama" process through the town.

The festival's greatest distinction is, as its name suggests, the gigantic floats called "tōrōyama," reaching as much as 16 meters in height. Atop each float is placed a large figure based on the year's topics or historical tales, towering as if looking down over the town. Some are said to have once exceeded 20 meters in height. While descended from the "kiriko festivals" widely handed down in Noto, they embody the float culture unique to Suzu, which achieved its own distinctive development.

At the festival, "kiriko" votive lanterns are carried out alongside the tōrōyama, parading through the town to the festival music of flutes and drums. At night, lights are lit on the floats and votive lanterns, and the gigantic figures emerging from the darkness together with countless lights create a dreamlike scene. Boasting around 350 years of history, this festival powerfully conveys to this day the prayers and spirit of the people rooted in Suzu, the land at the very tip of Noto.