Floating Lantern Ceremony

Floating Lantern Ceremony (Toro Nagashi)

AugustThis Buddhist ceremony is held in Honolulu, Hawaii, around the anniversaries of the end of World War II and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. The festival is part of the annual Buddhist Bon season of July and August in which the spirits of departed ancestors are welcomed back to earth with prayers, dances, offerings, and by setting afloat more than 1,000 colorful paper lanterns bearing the names of the dead.
See also Obon Festival
CONTACTS:
Hawaii Visitors Bureau
2270 Kalakaua Ave., 8th Fl.
Honolulu, HI 96815
800-464-2924 or 808-924-0259; fax: 808-924-0291
www.hvcb.org
SOURCES:
RelHolCal-2004, p. 221