The Missouri Botanical Garden is welcoming a St. Louis tradition this weekend.

“We’ve been hosting the Japanese festival for over 30 years,” Karen Hagenow, Public Information Officer for the Missouri Botanical Gardens, said. “It really has kind of taken on what it’s been known as ever since our Japanese garden was built and dedicated in 1977.”

The festival, running Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., is a celebration of Japanese culture housed within the renowned Japanese garden.

To attract different acts to perform at the festival takes a lot of planning. That’s where Jim Kalkbrenner, events manager for the Missouri Botanical Gardens, and the Japanese Activities Committee come in.

“I search around the country to bring in different Japanese type activities that will round out the programming,’ Kalkbrenner said. “We’re looking for authentic Japanese programming . A lot of things come to me. Performing entities come to me, and we’ll see if they fit in with our combination of events.”

Hagenow also feels the community support is a vital ingredient.

“There’s a large support by the Japanese community and the community at large,” she said.

There are a number of events at this year’s festival, including a sumo wrestling demonstration by former professional sumo wrestlers.

“[Sumo] was so popular the year we brought it . This is our fifth year so I’m hoping to bring them back for as long as they can come,” Kalkbrenner said.

In addition, the festival will have a traditional Japanese drum performance and fashion show.

“It really is spectacular. The sounds these drums make is a large, booming sound,” Hagenow said. “We always have a kimono fashion show on Sundays, and there’s always a packed house for that.”

The newest act is a Bunraku troupe. Bunraku is a form of traditional Japanese puppetry in which the audience sees the puppeteers on stage.

“The troupe we have coming us actually from the University of Missouri at Columbia,” Hagenow said. “They should be performing a couple of times a day.”

Kalkbrenner feels the puppetry is a great addition.

“It’s really fun to have Japanese public theater, which we’ve never really had before,” he said.

Hagenow said she is excited for the festival and expects an even larger crowd than last year, if history repeats itself.

“The past couple of years, we’ve really been outdoing ourselves,” she said. “I think people have made Labor Day at the Missouri Botanical Gardens a tradition.”

General admission to the festival is $15 per person, with special pricing for seniors and children 12 and under.

The Missouri Botanical Gardens are located at 4344 Shaw Blvd.

For more information about the festival, including a downloadable schedule of events and performers, visit www.mobot.org/events/japanesefestival.com.