Float photos on Flickr

In towns and cities across the country, people take to the streets to celebrate their neighbourhood's shrine with costumes, dancing, singing and a procession of incredible floats.

This beautifully crafted model of a festival float, set on a wheeled carriage, was donated to the British Museum by the art dealership Yamanaka & Co. in 1908, to mark the Olympic Games in London. However, its story, and even country of origin, remained unclear until investigations which took place during the pandemic.

Recent research through conversations with Japanese researchers has revealed that this float takes the form of the 'state barge' (gozabune), which was the marine transport used by the shogun (hereditary military leaders). The float bears three banners with the crest of the ruling Tokugawa house.

The model was possibly created by Murakami Tetsudō (1867–1919), a woodworker known for elaborate carvings on festival floats depicting mythological subjects. Working for Yamanaka at their factory in Osaka, Tetsudō led the field in producing Western-style furniture with 'Japoniste' carved ornamentation of dragons, phoenixes, chrysanthemums, turtles and fish.

The festival float was probably also made at the factory but, in stark contrast, represents a revival of more traditional forms and customs and came to represent ‘old Japan’.

Japan's longstanding custom of staging local festivals is well documented in paintings, prints and books. The display also featured some of the objects from the British Museum collection that record and celebrate this history.

[*British Museum]

Taken in the British Museum

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1 14

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More Carnaval floats pics and videos visit here

goa-joegoauk.blogspot.com/2019/03/goa-carnival-2019.html

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Float Fest

Family & MWR

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More pics and videos of Carnival 2020 visit here

goa-joegoauk.blogspot.com/2020/02/goa-carnival-2020.html

by hemogobblin _King of the Zombies

To get the feeling of Mardi Gras year-round, visit Mardi Gras World, the largest float designing and building facility in the world. Here more than 80 percent of the floats that journey down New Orleans' streets during the Carnival season are designed and built.

Begun in 1947 by float designer and builder Blaine Kern, Mardi Gras World provides visitors with the opportunity to don authentic Mardi Gras costumes and tour enormous warehouses filled with floats. The tour includes a short video and guide who is quite knowledgeable about Mardi Gras history and customs. And for a taste of Mardi Gras, king cake and piping hot New Orleans coffee are served.

During the tour, visitors learn about the many traditions surrounding Mardi Gras parades, balls and music, as well as the intricacies of float designing and building. Mardi Gras floats began rumbling down New Orleans streets in 1837 with mule-drawn carriages. Today the tradition continues with sophisticated mega-floats, which hold more than 200 masked riders and are lit with fiber optic cables and laser lights.

Float by Timburntmusic