Labor Day Weekend: Cookouts, baseball, beer and Sumo wrestling? On Sept. 4-6, the Missouri Botanical Garden will host its 33rd Annual Japanese Festival, which celebrates the history, culture and people of Japan.
An abundance of Japan-centric activities are scheduled throughout the weekend at the Garden, including music and art demonstrations, karaoke, sumo wrestling, an ice-sculpting demonstration and Taiko drumming. There will also be a kimono fashion show, a Japanese festival tradition which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
On Saturday night, there will be a screening of animation auteur Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film, Ponyo.
Walking tours of the Japanese Garden will be conducted throughout the day, with candlelight walks on Saturday and Sunday nights.
Food and drink vendors will also be selling traditional Japanese food and drinks, such as sake and mushrooms.
“Regardless of what your interests are, we have something for you,” says Peggy Lents, Senior Vice President of Communication at the Botanical Garden.
Karen Hill, the Public Information Officer agreed, “The guys love the martial arts, the [kids] love anime… there’s something for all ages and all types.”
The festival ties in with the Japanese Garden at the MBG, which was designed by renowned landscape architect Koichi Kawana. The Garden, named Seiwa-en, meaning “garden of pure, clear, harmony and peace,” opened in 1977. After the garden was unveiled, the fledgling Japanese Festival moved to its current location.
“The Japanese Garden is the inspiration behind this event,” Hill explained. “It’s a fitting venue for us to provide something of this caliber.” The event is one of the most popular at the Botanical Garden, drawing thousands of people each year. “It’s a real quality event,” Lents said of the festival’s appeal.
Over the years, several Japanese ambassadors and consulates have attended the festival and are surprised at how “professional and stellar” of an event it is.
“I think St. Louisians recognize not just quality but value,” she said.
The weekend is packed with festival events happening all over the Botanical Garden, so Hill recommended that visitors view a schedule and map out what they would like to see. She said that some indoor events, like movie screenings and the fashion show, have limited seating, so festivalgoers should plan accordingly.
The festival opens each day at 10 a.m. Admission is $15 and includes all festival events except tea ceremonies, which cost $25. The Missouri Botanical Garden is located at 4344 Shaw Boulevard, just north of Tower Grove Park.
For more information and a detailed schedule of the weekend’s events, visit mobot.org.
