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Annual Como Park Japanese Obon Festival

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Location St Paul
Dates August 19, 2018 - August 19, 2018
Description:

From Annual Como Park Japanese Obon Festival Website:

Bonsai, martial arts, singing, dancing, drumming, delicious food and other aspects of Japanese culture, will be featured at the annual Como Park Japanese Obon Festival, a family-friendly event, reminiscent of Japan's annual Obon holiday, on Sunday, August 19, 2018 on the grounds of the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory in Como Park from 3:00pm 9:00pm.

Obon is an important Japanese cultural and family holiday, at which ancestral spirits are said to revisit their families for three days. Families pay their respects at grave sites and put out offerings of food and drink on a tray before household altars. They also light lanterns or small fires outside the house to symbolically guide the souls to the home. On the last evening of Obon, lanterns again guide the spirits back to their resting places.

The Obon Festival encompasses Japanese traditionthrough music, dance, crafts, martial arts and lanterns. Entertainment in the Como Ordway Memorial Japanese Garden and on the main stage will include several taiko drumming groups, koto (Japanese sitar), shakuhachis (bamboo flutes), traditional and contemporary dance and singing. Martial arts, Ikebana (Japanese flower arranging), origami demonstrations and a host of other cultural exhibits and demonstrations will line several paths through the grounds. Japanese food and dozens of culturally-related items will be for sale.

The day will culminate at dusk with the main eventthe lantern lighting. Six stone lanterns and floating paper lanterns throughout the Japanese garden pond and the Frog Pond will create a vision of peacefulness and harmony to commemorate the dead.

The Como Park Japanese Obon Festival, produced by Como Park Zoo and Conservatory, Japan America Society of Minnesota, and Saint Paul Nagasaki Sister City Committee will be held on Sunday, August 19, 2018 from 3:00pm-9:00pm. Admission is $5.00 per adult (13+), $3.00 per child (ages 3-12) and Seniors (ages 65+), free for children under 3. Free shuttle bus service will be available from a staffed off-site parking lot at the District Service Center located at 1930 Como Ave.
Event WebsiteSign Up To Be A Member
Show hoursSun 3-9
Public Admission Pricevaries, please see website
Year #n/a
Maps and Directions (from Google Maps)
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