Photo/Illutration Saio-dai, the heroine of the Aoi Festival, is carried on a float that progresses through Kyoto’s Tadasunomori forest to Shimogamojinja shrine in the city’s Sakyo Ward on May 15, 2019. (Yoshiko Sato)

KYOTO--The city’s centuries-old Aoi Festival will feature hundreds of people in period attire as the “Roto no Gi” parade is revived in full this May for the first time in four years, organizers said.

Saio-dai, the heroine of this ancient event, will also be announced at that time.

As a result, the festival will be held in its usual stunning format, having been canceled for three straight years due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The Aoi Festival is an annual celebration organized by Kamigamojinja shrine in Kita Ward and Shimogamojinja shrine in Sakyo Ward.

Held on May 15, it is also one of the ancient capital’s three biggest festivals.

The Roto no Gi parade involves around 500 people in colorful court attire strolling from the former imperial palace to Shimogamojinja and then to Kamigamojinja.

It is held alongside the “Shato no Gi” ceremony, in which gifts from the emperor are offered to a deity in prayer for the prosperity of the country and the peace of its people.

The Shato no Gi ritual was held during the past three years in spite of the pandemic.

The parade itself requires extensive preparations as it involves dressing scores of participants in ancient court attire and assembling carriages and floats.

The cancellations of the parade over the past three years posed a threat to tradition of being able to hand down event know-how, organizers said.

“It means a lot to promote Kyoto as a city of culture at home and abroad,” Kyoto Governor Takatoshi Nishiwaki said of the parade.

Kyoto Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa added, “I’m excited already.”

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