festival in Gion

There was a festival in Kyoto, right in front of the shrine we had just been at, on our last day in Kyoto. It was very frustrating though - no one seemed to know anything about exactly where the parade/procession would go.

Here is the start of the procession:

Little boys dressed up. As samurai?

These girls were dressed as swans. Initially they had their arms upraised and they had "feathers". It was very pretty, but I never saw them do it again so I could get a photo.