Japanese Lantern Lighting Festival

The Como Park Japanese Lantern Lighting Festival is Sunday,
August 17, 2008.
Gates open at 3:00pm ~ Entertainment begins at 3:30pm
Lantern lighting will begin at dusk
Free shuttle bus service from Midway Stadium starting at 2:30pm
 Admission is $5.00 for adult, $3.00 for children

Taiko drums, martial arts, Ikebana, sushi and other aspects of Japanese culture, will be featured at the annual Como Park Japanese Lantern Lighting Festival,  a  family-friendly event, reminiscent of Japan’s annual Obon holiday, on Sunday, August 17, 2008 on the grounds of the Marjorie McNeely Conservatory in Como Park.

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 gravesites and put out offerings of food and drink on a tray before household alters. 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 theme of this year’s event is ‘The Element of Tea”.  Tea is a customary drink worldwide. In Asian countries, drinking tea is an ancient tradition accompanied by a highly developed tea-based culture which is tied to art and local customs. Japanese tea ceremony is one of the representative arts of Japan. This elaborate and philosophical art form is highly ritualized and is characterized by simplicity of movement. In this respect, the art of tea brings calm to the spirit and it is intended to prepare the server and the recipient for conversation and peaceful communication. The tea ceremony may be practiced anywhere, at home, in a public place, or in a teahouse.

The Lantern Lighting Festival encompasses Japanese tradition—through music, dance, crafts, martial arts and lanterns. The Marjorie McNeely Conservatory grounds will open at 3 p.m., and live entertainment in the Como Ordway Memorial Japanese Garden and on the main stage will begin at 3:30p.m. Entertainment 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, kites 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.  A traditional kimona will also be raffled off.

The day will culminate at dusk with the main event—the 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 Lantern Lighting 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 17, 2008 from 3:00pm-9:00pm.  Admission is $5.00 per adult (13+), $3.00 per child (3-12) and free for under 3 years of age.  Free shuttle bus service from Midway Stadium.

 About the Como Ordway Memorial Japanese Garden

The Japanese Garden opened in 1979 with funds donated by the family of Mrs. John G. Ordway. Mr. Masami Matsuda, a ninth-generation Master Gardener, designed the garden in the chisen-kaiya (strolling pond) style as a gift from Sister City Nagasaki. In 1990-1991, Matsuda supervised a complete renovation of the site, adding a teahouse and roji (tea garden). The Garden stays true to its Japanese traditions, using the elements of rock, water and plants to create a tranquil environment that guests are invited to experience from many angles.

The Como Ordway Memorial Japanese Garden is the second Japanese garden to grace Como Park. The first was created in 1904 and disappeared from the Park Commission reports in 1909. The four white granite lanterns in the current garden are originals of the 1904 tea garden.