Held on Oct. 11-12, 2008, this is another major float festival in Shiga where they display and pull ornate floats along the city streets. I went to see both the festival eve called Yoimiya when they display the floats on the streets at night. The floats are lit up with lanterns and musicians also play.

On the next day, they had the procession through central Otsu.

Unique features of the festival:

• The floats have three wheels (like a tricycle) instead of four wheels.
• Mechanical karakuri dolls on the floats perform.
• They throw chimaki good luck charms from the floats.

Check out my photos and videos:

Video link Part 1: http://youtu.be/mHSO_IWkdTE
Video link Part 2: http://youtu.be/zCQkyxHJVUI

Photos: https://photoguide.jp/pix/thumbnails.php?album=29

Update: Saw Otsu Matsuri again in Oct. 2013. See my higher quality video here.