Tanabata Matsuri (Star Festival)

Tanabata (七夕, meaning "Seven Evenings") is a Japanese Star Festival. It is derived from Obon traditions and the Chinese star festival, Qi Xi . The festival celebrates the meeting of Orihime (Vega) and Hikoboshi (Altair). The Milky Way, a river made from stars that crosses the sky, separated these two lovers, and they were allowed to meet only once a year. And this day is 7 July every year.
In present-day Japan, people generally celebrate this day by writing wishes, sometimes in the form of poetry, on tanzaku (短冊, small pieces of paper) and hanging them on bamboo, sometimes with other decorations. The bamboo and decorations are often set float on a river or burned after the festival, around midnight or on the next day. This resembles the custom of floating paper ships and candles on rivers during Obon. Many areas in Japan have their own Tanabata customs, which are mostly related to local Obon traditions. I have my own tanzaku too. I did two in the class, one more during the volunteer class and another one during my friend's birthday party which fell on the same day as the Tanabata Matsuri. The biggest Tanabata festival in Japan is held in Sendai.