Akita gets a lot of snow in winter and therefore a lot of cloudy skies. Because of that many of the towns and villages decided to brighten things up a bit with colourful winter festivals.
In this clip you'll see the Paper Balloon Festival in Kamihinokinai, the Giant Tug of War (tsuna hiki) of Daisen also in Daisen the Bonten Festival and the Namahage Festival of Oga Peninsula. All of these take place around the traditional new year February 10th. If you're planning a trip there in winter that's a great time to go.