Taiho Dam Festival offers day of fun and education

Taiho Dam has a pubic park with artificial rovers and rapids for children to play.

Taiho Dam has a pubic park with artificial rovers and rapids for children to play.

In order to ensure a stable supply of fresh water, the government has built a number of dams in the prefecture. Taiho Dam in Ogimi Village is the second tallest dam on Okinawa at 77.5 meters. It has a capacity of 20.050 million cubic meters water, and its construction started in 1987 and the dam was completed in 2010.

Besides supplying water, the surroundings of the dam have become a popular setting for people to come and relax in he park areas by the dam.

Taiho Dam is also the venue of an annual one-day festival that was initially organized to give people a deeper understanding of the interaction between the dam and nature. With the Taiho Dam as the main venue, the day will provide many activities for visitors.

The festival takes place this Saturday, July 2nd, from 13:00 to 17:30. The event is held whether rain or shine.

The Medical Evacuation Service Helicopter (MESH) will be on display in the park from 14:00 to 15:00 emergencies permitting.

The Medical Evacuation Service Helicopter (MESH) will be on display in the park from 14:00 to 15:00 emergencies permitting.

During the day, a number of experience-based events will take place throughout the day. A small fee is charged for most of the events to pay for materials used in the experience. All events will be closed as soon as the number of participants reaches the limit.

The events include a metal badge making (¥100), grass toy making (free) and pottery class (¥500, limited to 30 people). The MESH helicopter is on display from 14:00 to 15:00 provided that no emergency calls them to elsewhere.

There are three canoe tours on the dam for ¥500 for the first 40 people, boat rides three times for the first seven people, and three free tours of the dam facilities (limited to first 25 people).

Children will enjoy playing in the overflow channel artificial river downstream of the dam all day, which is free. Taiho Dam, as all the other dams on Okinawa, has a public park area incorporated. They all are free to access any time, and always very well maintained. Most of them have walking trails and picnic areas, and they also have water recreational areas for kids to play.

However, here’s a word of warning. Although Taiho Dam has some water slide-like concrete structures in the leisure area, they are not meant for fun. The surface on the slides is very slick and covered with brown algae that makes the surface very slippery, and is very difficult to clean from clothes.

Shanti

03:57 29 Mar , 2024