drums drums drums

So last month I went to Narita for their plum blossom festival, but this month I found myself back again, this time for their drum festival! I heard about it last year too but couldn't make it, so this year I managed to go on the second/last day, and it was great. :D

I heard from a friend of mine that the opening event for the day was not to be missed, so I dragged myself out of bed early and ran into some friends who were also on their way to the festival at the station. We got to the main area about a half hour before it was supposed to start, but there was already a big crowd. I couldn't see them at first, but all the taiko/drumming groups that would be performing during the day were all gathered in front of the main temple (with their drums), which was more than 600 people. After some speeches by some people, they introduced each of the groups one by one, with each group playing a short sequence.

Then it was time for the main performance, which was all 600+ drummers performing the same song together. Even before they started making noise, the moment when they all lifted their drumsticks in the air at once was really cool, and then they started! Needless to say, it was pretty loud, to the point where I could feel the vibrations, but it was awesome. Totally worth getting up for and definitely the highlight of the day.



From then on it was just going from performance to performance, as they were happening all day at various stages all along the path from the station down to the temple. The first group we went to was actually an African drum group from Ghana, which was pretty cool, followed by a group that had piqued my interest during their introduction at the beginning. They're apparently a pretty famous group that does tours around Japan and the world, and their performance was super energetic and exciting.

Next it was time for the parade, which I think was supposed to be the big wrap-up event. We got to see a lot more groups pass by, including one where everybody was dressed like some sort of bug (I think maybe they were ants? Or fireflies? Unclear) and one with steel drums. It moved a lot more slowly than most parades I've seen, but it was pretty interesting/impressive to see/hear all the groups playing different songs so close to each other without getting confused.

After that I went to see my friend's performance with his local taiko group, which was also cool. Plus they had little kids performing, who were all super cute. :)

And that was the Narita Taiko Matsuri! I was pretty tired after and my ears were happy to get back to my quiet apartment, but all in all it was pretty great.