Sapporo Festival

The festival is very crowded (this goes on for kilometers!)

One week after the Yosakoi festival we have the Sapporo Festival. The Hokkaido Shrine and other shrines have lots of Shinto things that they do, and the big Nakajima Koen park is filled with food stands and strange attractions.

Bacon, cheese and habanero sauce.

I like this festival, since the food stands sell some interesting food and it is a good chance to use my yukatas. There is one negative side to the festival though, which is that the temple outside my building becomes very active in the mornings. There are parades of religious things being carried between different temples and shrines in the city, and the processions are accompanied by musicians. They play the same 5 second flute melody over and over for hours, and they bang huge drums very loudly. The processions are also very long and very slow, so they get stuck at the red light in the intersection outside my building, so a single procession can be outside my window for 30 minutes. This makes it hard to sleep on Saturday and Sunday morning...

TV was there

The festival area is filled with fun, though. I saw a woman eat a snake that was still alive when she started chewing on it, and another woman eat a raw chicken and drink melted candles. There was also a guy that stopped an electric fan with his tongue. Other tents have "ghost house" experiences, motorcycle show of death, shooting games, ring throwing games, soccer games, baseball games, carving shapes in sugar games, and much more. But mainly there are endless rows of food.

Onigiri wrapped in meat

The Hokkaido shrine also has food stands during this period, and some shows. They have karate shows, monkey shows, and, somewhat unexpectedly, jazz concerts.

Putting burning candles in your mouth and extinguishing the fire with your tongue

Melting candles into your mouth

Stopping a fan with your tongue

Pulling a chain in through your nose and out through your mouth

Eating a snake

Crushed ice with fruit syrup

Cucumber with miso paste

I liked this giraffe patterned yukata!

One of many religious processions going around town

The Hokkaido shrine, much calmer than the Nakajima Koen park