Let’s go to Japanese Festivals!
There is scientific evidence that those who do volunteer activities are healthier.
One study (1) investigated the impact of volunteer activity over a four-year period. Participants were aged over 50 (average age 66) with 59% being women, 66% married. There was a control group who undertook no volunteering activity. The key conclusions were:
1) During the 4-year follow-up period, those volunteering 100 hours a year or more (versus zero hours a year) had a 44% reduced risk of mortality.
2) Of the health and well-being indicators that were monitored, the measures which improved are clustered principally in “psychological well-being/distress” and “social factors” classifications. A detailed table is available in a background paper, here.
A review (2) of over 1000 academic research studies over 1990-2020 looking at the relationship between exercise and mental health commented:
Physical health is clearly intertwined with mental health in a bidirectional fashion. Scientific evidence shows that changes in thinking patterns and behaviors affect neurological, endocrine, and immune systems. Conversely, disruption in these biological systems negatively impacts mental health.
With the intertwining of mental health and physical health, community activity, participation in local festivals, volunteering in general, has an overall beneficial effect.
References:
- Volunteering and Subsequent Health and Well-Being in Older Adults: An Outcome-Wide Longitudinal Approach, by Eric S Kim, Ashley Whillans, Matthew T Lee, Ying Chen, and Tyler Vanderweele, 2020
- Move Your Mental Health, A review of the scientific evidence on the role of exercise and physical activity on mental health, by John W. Brick, mental foundation, May 2021