Ready for festival season!
Festival season is upon us! Over the next three weekends, we will be celebrating Japanese culture with performances throughout St. Louis and Springfield, Missouri. These festivals provide a fun opportunity for audiences to learn about world cultures through music, dance, food, storytelling and other activities - all without a passport!
We kick things off this Saturday in Tower Grove Park, with the
Festival of Nations. Organized by the International Institute of St. Louis, the annual event celebrates the diversity of world cultures that contribute to a thriving St. Louis community. This will be our first time performing at the Festival of Nations and we hope you can join us in the fun! The event is free and includes a ton of activities from around the world; check out the
festival schedule for a full list of activities to plan your weekend.
Next we head to Missouri Botanical Garden for the
Japanese Festival, which runs Labor Day weekend. The weekend begins with opening ceremonies, including a
kagami-biraki, or sake barrel ceremony, where we share a bit of sake and play taiko, and continues over the three-day weekend with multiple performances. Download the festival program for a complete schedule, list of vendors, and ticket pricing.
Our community group members will perform at the Cohen Amphitheater at 6:50 PM Sunday, September 4. Please join us and help to cheer them on!
Advance tickets are recommended! Visit Missouri Botanical Garden's website to
purchase tickets.
Last we travel across the state to Springfield for the 26th annual
Japanese Fall Festival. Located in the beautiful Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden, the event celebrates Springfield’s sister city relationship with Isesaki, Japan. In addition to opening ceremony, we will have multiple performances throughout the weekend.
Following our Saturday afternoon performance, we will also be offering an introductory children's workshop to give audience members a chance to try taiko.
Tickets are available at the gate; visit the
event website for a full list of performers and ticket pricing.
This is our favorite time of year - we hope you can join us at one of these events!
Festival of Nations
Tower Grove Park
4257 Northeast Dr., St. Louis, MO
Saturday, August 27 - Sunday, August 28
Saturday - 1:00 PM (Main Stage)
Japanese Festival
Missouri Botanical Garden
4344 Shaw Blvd., St. Louis, MO
Saturday, September 3 - Monday, September 5
Saturday - 11:00 AM Opening Ceremony (Yagura Stage)
Saturday - 7:00 PM (Cohen Amphitheater)
Sunday - 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM (Cohen Amphitheater)
Monday - 2:00 PM (Cohen Amphitheater)
Springfield Japanese Fall Festival
Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park -
Mizumoto Japanese Stroll Garden
2400 S. Scenic Ave., Springfield, MO
Friday, September 9 - Sunday, September 11
Friday - 6:10 PM (Opening Ceremony)
Saturday - 3:00 PM and 7:00 PM
Sunday - 2:30 PM
*Note, Japanese Fall Festival performance times are approximate. Check our
calendar for updates.
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Stop by the dashi!
A favorite at Missouri Botanical Garden's Japanese Festival, we're excited to be re-opening the
dashi, our parade float, for visitors to try out taiko. Our members will be inside the dashi throughout the weekend; stop by to chat with us, learn more about taiko and our group, and play a little taiko.