Its religious festival was called 'Gion Goryo-e,' and began being celebrated by the citizens of Kyoto at the Gion-sha Shrine (currently Yasaka-jinja Shrine) in the latter half of the tenth century.
その祭礼を「祇園御霊会（御霊会）」といい、10世紀後半に京の市民によって祇園社（現在の八坂神社）で行われるようになった。