Aoi Matsuri

On May 15th I was insane enough to wake up at 6:00 and to actually be sitting on a little blanket with sandwich in hand at 8:00 on the front-row in the Imperial Palace garden.
Why would I do such a thing on my free thursday you ask? Because I had been told 1 out of the top 3 festivals in Kyoto would start there at 10:30, the Aoi Matsuri. And to have the best view you HAD to be there at 8...
There was in the end so it seemed, no need to be there at 8 as there were still loads of front-row spots left around 10am.

I will tell you in short what the Aoi Matsuri is about, it is a procession in which people dressed in traditional ancient Heian court clothing. They reenact the procession that was held somewhere between the year 539-571 to please the deities of the Shimogamo shrine and Kamigamo shrine for a better harvest, as it had been disastrous that year.

The procession ended within 45 minutes and was beside the fact that it was very beautiful and the clothing amazing and details, not what I had expected. I think I was excepting more..more..joie de vivre! It was very depressing in a way, the people didn't look very happy and some horses where in a bad shape and very anxious.
Don't get me wrong I highly enjoy the patterned and elaborate clothing, but the procession itself was nothing to get up for at 6:00 in the morning, but I guess I was just having a bad case of the getting-up-too-early-grump.
But! As I love Japanese patterns and fabric here are some (close-up) pictures for the lovely outfits and some parts of the procession aswell.

The procession