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This weekend members of the Palo Alto Buddhist Temple and the surrounding community will gather under lantern lights to feast, dance and welcome those who’ve passed back earthside.
The two-day annual Obon festival – a more than 500-year-old Japanese Buddhist tradition honoring ancestors and deceased loved ones in the summer – kicks off on Saturday, Aug. 2, at 2751 Louis Road. From 1 to 8 p.m., attendees can purchase homemade Japanese pastries and savory snacks like miso salmon and teriyaki chicken. They can also watch live performances from taiko drumming ensembles, discuss the basics of Buddhism, learn about the age-old art of cultivating bonsai trees, and more.
Sunday will feature a demonstration from the Palo Alto Judo Club, music from the San Jose-based Chidori Band, a service in the temple’s main hall, and additional programming from 2 to 7:30 p.m. The festivities will conclude with the Bon Odori, a Japanese folk dance that some members of the temple have been practicing for.
However, Don Tirsell, co-chair of the Obon Festival, said anyone who attends can join the circle and pick up the steps the same day. “It’s completely open,” he said, adding that “sometimes [people] will drag their family members out of the stands,” particularly for the last song.
“The dancing is to signify and honor our ancestors,” Tirsell said. “Sometimes, there’s a lot of emotion for people that have lost parents or loved ones in the last year or so.”
After his mother-in-law passed away, Tirsell said he and his family “were remembering having gone through this same set of steps with her the years prior.” The Obon festival “sets aside a time where I do remember my parents, my wife’s parents [and] all the extended family that [have] passed in our blended family,” he said.
Tirsell’s wife is Japanese American; together they’ve been members of the Palo Alto Buddhist Temple for nearly 20 years. Their kids went to the temple’s K – 12 Dharma School, and his wife’s family have been members of the temple since the mid-twentieth century, around the time that the 110-year-old temple first opened its current Palo Alto location.
At this year’s Palo Alto Obon Festival – one of many around the Bay Area – organizers are anticipating their largest turnout in years since the temple slowly reopened in the aftermath of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
“Although it originated in Japanese American culture, we’re really trying to use the spirit of Obon to bridge … both religious groups and cultures,” Tirsell said, adding that everyone is invited.
