Last Friday, I took a paid holiday to help a summer festival as a volunteer. It was held in an area of a district that I am working for.
This is called "子ども山笠" that is mainly held for children.
In Japan, there is a tendency seen in almost area that is called "少子高齢化"(shousi-koureika). It means that children decrease and elder people increase.
In this area, adult people who support the festival have decreased, so I helped them as a volunteer.
The origin of "山笠" is said that religious leader on "山笠" went around a city to keep away evil spirit when contagious disease were spread in ancient days. Of course, modern people are not conscious of its origin.