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Students of the Mountain View Buddhist Temple Taiko program perform at the temple’s Obon festival on July 20, 2024. Photo by Anna Hoch-Kenney. 
Hungry festival attendees chow down on traditional Japanese and classic American festival foods at the Obon festival. Photo by Anna Hoch-Kenney. 
Elisabeth Chen, 2, and her mom, Jessica Chen, play bingo at the Obon festival. Photo by Anna Hoch-Kenney. 
Students of the Mountain View Buddhist Temple Taiko program perform at the temple’s Obon festival. Photo by Anna Hoch-Kenney. 
Festival attendees line up to play games at the Obon festival. Photo by Anna Hoch-Kenney. 
Kaitlyn Porticos, left, and Arnav Rathnam, right, dig into shaved ice at the Obon festival. Photo by Anna Hoch-Kenney. 
Hungry festival attendees chow down on traditional Japanese and classic American festival foods at the Obon festival. Photo by Anna Hoch-Kenney.
Crowds flocked to the Mountain View Buddhist Temple this weekend for the 69th annual Obon Festival and Bazaar.
The festival opened on Saturday, July 20, with a performance by students of the Mountain View Buddhist Temple’s Taiko (Japanese drums) program, with each student stepping forward to do a short, self-composed drumming solo as the crowd cheered.Â
Afterwards, attendees made their way to the shade of the bingo tent and lined up for popular shaved ice treats to beat the afternoon heat.
The festival also included a plant nursery, vendor stalls selling traditional Japanese arts and crafts, rows of game tents, and a food hall where hungry festival attendees could chow down on a variety of traditional Japanese and classic American festival foods.
The annual festival offers a chance to honor loved ones who have died and celebrate their ongoing influence in attendees’ lives, according to the Buddhist Temple’s website.