浅草吉原さくら祭りメインイベント「江戸吉原おいらん道中2018」始まり始まり～♪Traditional geisha of Japan Oiran in Yoshiwara

浅草吉原さくら祭りメインイベント「江戸吉原おいらん道中2018」始まり始まり～♪Traditional geisha of Japan Oiran in Yoshiwara
綺麗な花魁たちが練り歩きます。
（花魁とは遊郭を語る上で避けて通れないですね。しかし諸説入り乱れて悩ましい問題の一つが「花魁（遊女）」と「芸者」の本質的な違いだそうです。
遊女とは、古い時代から近代にかけて、男性客に対して性的サービスを中心とした接客で生計を立てていた女性のことで、
遊女を抱える遊郭では、他にも芸者や男芸者（幇間）などさまざまな職種の人間が出入りしておりそのうちの芸者は、唄や三味線、踊り、話芸などの芸事で客をもてなすプロフェッショナルでした。
昔の遊郭遊びでは、揚屋で客が指名した花魁が到着するまでの間の場つなぎとして芸者や幇間が呼ばれ、十八番の芸を披露して客を楽しませ、花魁と客が妓楼へと去った後はめいめいの置屋に引き上げる、という流れが一般的だったそうです。
遊女と芸者はどちらも接客業ではありますが、時代や地域で位置づけが様々に変化しているため、両者の定義については時代背景と照らし合わせてみるのもよいでしょう。
ちなみに、京都では芸者のことを「芸妓（げいぎ・げいこ）」と呼ぶそうです）
It has nothing to do with what color they wear. Geisha are women who are traditional Japanese entertainers. They study and perform several arts, including dancing, singing, and playing musical instruments (e.g. shamisen, flute, small hand drums). They may also study arts like tea ceremony. They are skilled in conversation, keeping parties lively, and making customers feel at ease. A typical party with geisha entertainment would include a meal, performances of song and dance by the geisha, lively conversation, and games played with all of the geisha and customers. Different regions in Japan have different terms for this kind of artist. Geisha is the term used in and around Tokyo, geiko is the term used in and around Kyoto, and geigi is the term used in and around Fukuoka.
Before becoming a geisha/geiko/geigi, most (but not all!) women go through an apprenticeship of several years. In Tokyo, the apprentices are called hangyoku, while in Kyoto they are called maiko.
In terms of kimono, both maiko and geiko (or hangyoku and geisha, etc.) wear many colors. Black is usually worn on very formal occasions, though it could be worn at other times as well. Maiko and geiko can usually be told apart by difference in their costume, such as sleeve length (maiko wear long sleeves) and by the shape of the obi (maiko wear a long, trailing obi while geiko wear a shorter obi tied in a square knot). Both maiko and geiko paint their faces white. Maiko usually style their own hair and wear elaborate hair ornaments, while geiko usually wear wigs and their hair ornaments are much more simple. Note that those rules apply to Kyoto -- some of them, such as the difference in sleeve length, also apply to Tokyo, while other rules do not (e.g. Tokyo hangyoku often wear wigs).