Gion Matsuri

I went to Kyoto on Monday last weekend (it was a holiday) for Gion Matsuri, which is one of the biggest festivals in all of Japan. It dates back to the 9th century and I read that it was started as a way to ward off plague during the humid summer months.
It is essentially a big parade, and I think each ward (like a small neighbourhood) of Kyoto has its own float. Each float is pulled by men (no women allowed), and as you can see in the bottom picture, more men ride inside and on top.
On the sides of each float are very old,very expensive tapestries. Unfortunately, because it's the end of the rainy season, it was raining really hard and so the tapestries were covered with sheets of plastic.