Annual Festivals

Oshogatsu-Japanese New Year Celebration
Includes Japan’s customary rice-pounding and making of mochi rice cakes: viewing of the sado tea ceremony, kakizome, hands-on calligraphy: nengajo, New Year's card-making: omikuji, fortune-telling: and games like hanetsuki, similar to badminton, and fukuwarai, similar to pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey.  Celebrate 2010 and the year of the tiger on January 10, 2010.  More information to come!

Hatsume Fair
Celebrating the first bud of spring, The Morikami’s largest annual event, Hatsume, transforms the normally tranquil Morikami Park into a unique Japanese spring festival. Hatsume Fair features three stages with continuous entertainment including taiko drummers, a Japanese tea ceremony, flower arranging, martial art demonstrations, bonsai and orchid demonstrations, and much more. Also included are avenues of artisan booths, plant sales, Asian and American food vendors and children’s activities.  March 20 & 21, 2010.

Bon Festival
Inspired by Obon, Japan’s traditional three-day holiday honoring ancestors and thanking them for the quality of life enjoyed by the living, The Morikami celebrates Bon Festival in one fun-packed evening. Highlights include rousing taiko drum performances, traditional Japanese folk dancing with audience participation, ghost stories, and a street fair with games and shop stalls. The highlight of the evening begins at sunset when Morikami Pond is transformed into a tranquil sea of lighted lanterns which, in accordance with Japanese custom, guide the departure of ancestors’ souls who have come for a brief visit among the living. A special fireworks display caps the enchanting evening. August 14, 2010.