Ōme Grand Festival

The Ōme Grand Festival is a festival held every May 2nd and 3rd in Ōme, Tokyo. Its highlight is the floats—adorned with intricate carvings and lavish decorations—that parade from the various neighborhoods along Ōme's old highway. Also called "the foremost festival of Nishi-Tama," it is a representative spring festival of the Tama region.

The stars of the festival are twelve magnificent and ornate floats. Among them are floats once pulled in Edo's "Tenka Matsuri" (shogunal festivals), received as transfers, making them precious survivors that convey the legacy of Edo's festival culture to this day. Atop the floats are displayed warrior figures and puppets of historical personages, processing solemnly along the old Ōme highway.

The Ōme Grand Festival's greatest highlight is the "hikkawase," performed when several floats meet. The sight of the floats facing one another while each neighborhood's festival music is struck up as if in competition is the moment when the festival's excitement reaches its peak. As the tones of flutes and drums resound through the town and the musicians show off their skill, the crowd offers loud cheers. Alive with the history of Ōme, which flourished as a post town on the old highway, and the pride of townspeople who inherit Edo culture, this festival is an early-summer tradition that ardently enlivens the town of Ōme in the season of fresh green.