Here’s a quote about an opportunity to participate in the Hinokuni Matsuri that was posted on the Kumamoto JETS group:
— start quote — The Hinokuni Matsuri is one of Kumamoto’s biggest festivals. This year the festival will be held on Friday, August 7 and Saturday, August 8. The highlight of the festival is the Otemoyan Dance (おてもやん総おどり) on Satuday night. Groups of dancers will crowd the main streets of downtown Kumamoto and dance to traditional music playing from loudspeakers all around. Last year, around 4,500 dancers across about 50 groups participated in the Otemoyan Dance.
The Kumamoto Prefectural Office (kencho) is also entered in the festival, and they have asked if ALTs or other non-Japanese residents in the community are interested in joining! If you are interested in participating in the Otemoyan Dance, please consider joining the kencho team! The dance will start at around 7pm, on Saturday, August 8, but the kencho team will meet up before at 5pm. The dance should end at around 9pm. — end quote —
The photo is of students who danced with the University Consortium Kumamoto last year. I think the Consortium will probably organize something like this for foreign students again this year. When the time comes, the consortium will probably announce the organization of a group of student dancers on their Facebook page:
Consortium Facebook pages: https://www.facebook.com/consortium.kumamoto https://www.facebook.com/kumamotokibiru
Relevant post to Kumamoto JETs group: https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/kumamoto-jet/d8-Qld5mEqc