Japanese Pokemon festival kicks off with massive Pikachu parade

YOKOHAMA, Japan, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Blockbuster smartphone game Pokemon Go came to life in a Japanese city as dozens of people in Pikachu costumes paraded through the streets.

The Pikachu parade, an annual tradition that began in 2014, saw thousands of spectators lining the streets of Yokohama as dozens of human-sized Pokemon marched in procession.

The Saturday parade is part of the week-long Pikachu Tairyou Hassei-Chu festival, which was born of a partnership between the city and the creators of Pokemon.

Organizers said they were expecting particularly large crowds for this year's festival due to the massive popularity of the recently-released Pokemon Go smartphone game.