Sendai Tanabata Festival

Known also as a bamboo festival or a star festival, Tanabata is a festival that has continued since the Edo Period (1603-1868). It is best known for the love story of Princess Orihime and Hikoboshi, a cow herder. In Sendai the Tanabata festival runs every year since the times of Lord Date Masamune, who established the Sendai Clan in 1601. With two million visitors today, it has become one of the best-known festivals in all of Tohoku.
The Sendai Tanabata Festival takes place for three days from August 6 through to 8. Some 3,000 sets of large and small bamboo decorations adorn the entire city. In Sendai, seven different decorations (a message card, a small kimono made of paper, an origami crane, a small paper pouch, a fishing net, a basket and a billowing windsock) are attached to a piece of bamboo that is over 10 m long. Usually the windsocks come in a set of five.
The decorations are shown at every shopping street and gold, silver or bronze awards are presented in the afternoon on the 6th. The Sendai Tanabata Festival Square hosts various events, including an area for visitors to write their wishes on message cards.
Be sure to arrive on the 5th, the day before the event, to see the evening fireworks display.