A Japanese traditional festival featuring activities to honor ancestor spirits and family reunions will be held this weekend in Hanoi, the Vietnam Tourism Association said Monday on its website. The Obon fest will take place on August 9 and 10 from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm at Times City at 458 Minh Khai Street and is expected to bring visitors new interesting experiences.

The event will be a chance for local residents to have a better understanding of Japanese culture, people, and beliefs as well as participate in a range of traditional festivities including playing folk games, making handmade stuff, and watching Obon-themed dramas.

Other activities will include talk shows, fashion shows, group and individual cosplays, martial arts performances, Japanese comic exhibitions, and the “Bon Odori” parade, which is a dance style.

Obon, also known as Bon, is a Japanese Buddhist custom to honor the spirits of one's ancestors. It has evolved into a family reunion holiday during which people return to ancestral family places and visit and clean their ancestors' graves.

The Obon festival has been organized in Japan for more than 500 years and traditionally includes a dance called Bon Odori. It ends with Toro Nagashi, in which paper lanterns are illuminated and floated down rivers symbolically signaling the ancestral spirits' return to the world of the dead.

The activities might be different depending on each region’s culture. In Japan’s Kyoto, people show their profound love for their ancestors by burning five fires on five mountains in the area during one hour.

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