Palo Alto Obon Festival

First celebrated at the Palo Alto Buddhist Temple in 1948, the Obon Odori festival is a Japanese and Buddhist tradition honoring and celebrating ancestors. Palo Alto's modern incarnation intends to attract Buddhists and non-Buddhists alike to mark these traditions. The Palo Alto Buddhist Temple Bazaar and Obon Odori offers plenty to please all festival-goers, including music, dance performances, food and cultural exhibitions on the temple grounds.

The Temple and Obon Odori

• Early immigrants to the Bay Area founded the Palo Alto Buddhist Temple. Early services were held in temple-goers' homes, with the current temple being built and a permanent minister retained in 1954. Once a common holiday in Japan, Obon Odori has become less popular in its country of origin as it becomes more often celebrated in places where Buddhist populations are small. Palo Alto's celebration highlights Japanese culture and traditions of all types, while trying to modernize the festival with popular music and the like.

Performances and Demonstrations

• Traditional music, dance and performances are an important part of Obon Odori. At the temple's celebration, musical performances include minyo, or Japanese folk music; taiko drumming; and duets between the shakuhachi, a Japanese flute, and koto, which is a Japanese harp. The festival's namesake folk dancing, Bon Odori, or Buddhist folk dancing, is performed, with interested parties perfecting the dance over several practice days before the festival. Festival demonstrations include a judo and karate presentation, and a kendo, or fencing, show.

Activities

• Each festival day's opening musical performance is followed by a service led by the temple's minister, who encourages listeners to express gratitude to ancestors who have passed on. Festival-goers can walk through cultural displays, including paintings; ikebana, or flower arrangements; and suiseki, or stone arrangements. Attendees also can purchase food and drink, books, arts and crafts, and baked goods. For children, the festival offers storytelling and carnival games.

Details

• The Palo Alto Buddhist Temple, which teaches the practices of "dharma," or the idea of living life with meaning and gratitude, welcomes all to observe and participate in its services and programs.The Palo Alto Obon Odori festival is held each year on a Saturday and Sunday in late July or early August. Festival activities last from mid-evening to late evening on Saturday, and from mid-afternoon to late evening on Sunday.

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Ice Skating Nearest to Palo Alto

Sunny Palo Alto, California, is home to multimillion-dollar homes on tree-lined streets, prestigious Stanford University, high-end restaurants, pricey boutiques and an outdoor ice skating rink. Yes, an outdoor ice skating rink. The San Francisco Bay Area has produced a number of skating champions, including Olympic Gold Medalist Kristi Yamaguchi. Palo Alto could very well produce the next ice skating star.

Skate in the Sunshine

• Winter Lodge is the only outdoor ice skating venue in Palo Alto. Located on the southern end of town, Winter Lodge offers skating during the fall, winter and spring seasons, usually beginning the end of September and running through mid-April. Hockey lessons and skating instruction for both adults and children are available. Open, family and adult skating sessions are scheduled. Individual admissions, as well as discount admission cards, are offered. The rink is sometimes rented out for private events.

Redwood on Ice

• Head 7 miles north to Redwood City and you’ll find the Nazareth Ice Oasis. This indoor rink is open year-round with public skating sessions available nearly every day. Lessons are available for beginning to advanced skaters, figure skaters and hockey players. Nazareth supports adult and youth hockey teams and has occasional pickup hockey sessions for adult club members and their guests. Pickup hockey teams are comprised of players who sign up just for the night. Nazareth is also home to the Redwood City Ice Theatre Team, which participates in Theater On Ice, a figure skating event that started in 2002.

Skate with Champions

• Only 12 miles north of Palo Alto, Belmont Iceland is another year-round indoor ice skating venue. Competitive skaters from the Skating Club of San Francisco practice at Belmont. Some of that group’s more famous members include Brian Boitano and Peggy Fleming. Public skating sessions are offered, and hockey and skating lessons are available for all age groups and skill levels. The public sessions are usually on Friday nights, during the weekday lunch hour and on Sundays. Additional sessions are sometimes scheduled. The rink can also be reserved in its entirety for parties and other private events.

Skate Amongst Palms

• San Jose is only 21 miles south of Palo Alto and is home to Downtown Ice, an outdoor skating rink open from mid-November through mid-January. Every year the Circle of Palms, a downtown courtyard, is iced over. It creates a circular rink with the palm trees separating the inner skating circle from the outside lap skating area. The courtyard is located between the Fairmont Hotel and San Jose Museum of Art. Children are entitled to a discounted rate, and skates are available to rent. Wear a Hawaiian shirt on Aloha Fridays and get a discount on your admission. Make sure to wear something warm under your shirt, as winter nights in San Jose are sometimes brisk.

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