The community of Cortez will once again be hosting an Obon Festival to pay homage to ancestors and celebrate homecomings.

The annual Cortez Obon Festival will be held at 6:30 p.m. July 4 in the parking lot between Cortez Hall and the Cortez Buddhist Church on Cortez Avenue, between Santa Fe Drive and Linwood Avenue, southeast of Turlock.

The Obon Festival is held in many communities in Japan as well as in Japanese American communities around the United States. The origins of Obon are from the Buddhist legend of Mogallana, one of the Buddha’s disciples, rejoicing when his mother’s soul was redeemed from the realm of hungry ghosts. Most people of Japanese ancestry celebrate Obon as a homecoming: a time to visit one’s hometown and give homage to ancestors. For many Buddhist churches and temples in America, this festival offers a time to hold major fundraisers in the form of bazaars with ethnic food, games, cultural displays, and, of course, Obon dancing.

However, in the rural community of Cortez, they simply celebrate with joyous dancing. The dancing represents the participants’ gratitude to all who came before them, who made them what they are today.

Obon dancing is, traditionally, very simple. Most dances are set to Japanese folk songs, both old and new, with repetitive steps that can be learned quickly. Many children dress in traditional summer wear called yukata, while adults choose to wear happi coats over their street clothes. Obon festivals are very casual affairs and are meant for people to act spontaneously. Those in the audience are encouraged to participate.

Chris Kubo has been a part of the Cortez Obon Festival for the past 50 years, and said it is definitely a tradition worth continuing.

“This is one way that all of us can come together to show appreciation to all the people who came before us. It’s a gathering…what happens recently is that a lot of people who have moved away from the community come back to celebrate this,” she said.

In its annual appearance at Cortez Obon, Ballico Taiko, a drum group from Ballico-Cressey Elementary School District, along with Stockton Bukkyo Taiko, the drum group from the Buddhist Church of Stockton, will start the celebration at 6:30 p.m. Dancing will start around 7 p.m.

Those who would like a preview of the dancing or would like to learn the dances, practices will be held from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. June 30 to July 3 at the Cortez Hall, 12985 North Cortez Avenue (corner of Linwood and Cortez Avenues off of Santa Fe Drive).

Kubo said they invite the entire community to come participate in the festival.

“We’ve encourages the students of our school to participate, as well as the people in the community who live around us. It resonates with a lot of people, because this is similar to the kind of celebrations that we have for Dia de los Muertos. It’s in the same spirit,” she said.