Video by David Corrigan | Voice of Stephanie Salazar

The public was invited to the annual Honomu Henjoji Mission (Odaishisan) O-Bon dance at sundown here on Saturday.

The “Festival of Lanterns” is a time honored cultural dance – brought to the islands by the Japanese immigrants – performed to celebrate the souls of departed ancestors.

Here in Honomu, the normally quiet night air was filled with the music of the Hilo Bon Dance Club, and the neighborhood was lit by the lanterns perched on the central yagura.

The event was one of the first Bon dances of the O-Bon festival season, which runs from June through August.