Phallic processions
Phallic processions, called phallika in ancient Greece, were a common feature of Dionysiac celebrations; they were processions that advanced to a cult center, and were characterized by obscenities and verbal abuse. The display of a fetishized phallus was a common feature. In a famous passage in chapter 4 of the Poetics, Aristotle formulated the hypothesis that the earliest forms of comedy originated and evolved from "those who lead off the phallic processions", which were still common in many towns at his time.
The city of Tyrnavos in Greece holds an annual Phallus festival, a traditional event on the first days of Lent.
In August 2000, to promote a representation of Aristophanes' The Clouds, a traditional Greek phallic procession had been organized, with a long phallus paraded by the cast with the accompaniment of Balkan music; the phallic device was banned by the staff of the Edinburgh Festival.
Similar parades of Shinto origin have long been carried out in Japan. Although the practice has been mostly eradicated in Japan, a few, such as Kawasaki's Kanamara Matsuri and Komaki's Hōnen Matsuri continue to this day.
