白根大凧合戦 Shirone Odako Gassen (Shirone Giant Kite Battle)

Big 4-day event with many giant kites being flown along the river banks. Some of the kites were as big as 24-tatami mats...these are flown with ropes by teams of more than 20 people! Exciting, but slightly dangerous event!

An exhibit of a giant kite on the street.

Rolled-up kite being carried to the "take off" area

Kite taking off. It's a rather chaotic situation cos the narrow river banks are packed with spectators, pre-reserved eating and drinking tents, and kite teams. You have to be ever ready to jump out of the way when you see a team suddenly charging at you in a desperate attempt to save their kite.

Successful take off! Some crash into the river before even taking off successfully...

The kites are made of paper, so they're destroyed once they're wet. It's a massive operation to retrieve the kite frames from the river...especially if they're entangled with other kites.

Pre-reserved spots where you can enjoy watching the kite battle while dining and drinking under the protection of a roof

Even then, it's not 100% safe as kites do sometimes crash onto the roofs of the dining tents

Many kites in the air...

...teams have to watch their kites carefully. If the line crosses with another kite, they have to quickly switch positions with the other team on the ground to untangle the kites. Very messy.

Dog clad in hapi in the spirit of the festival