Powell Street Festival August 5, 2006

POWELL STREET FESTIVAL
Celebrating 30 Years

Saturday, August 5th & Sunday, August 6th, 2006
11:30 AM to 7:00 PM
Oppenheimer Park, 400 Powell Street &
Firehall Arts Centre, 280 E. Cordova Street
All Park and Firehall Events are Free!

Celebrating its 30th anniversary year, the Powell Street Festival is the largest Japanese Canadian festival and the longest running community celebration in Vancouver! Come enjoy traditional and contemporary Japanese Canadian performances, including taiko drumming, sumo wrestling, martial arts demos, folk and modern dance, alternative pop/rock/urban music, visual arts, film/video, as well as a fantastic array of Japanese food, crafts & displays. Festival programme guides available in July around town (and will be posted here soon!).

FESTIVAL WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS
Taiko extravaganza featuring several local taiko groups and Mu Daiko from Minneapolis • Contemporary dance by Linda Turnbull (Edmonton), Miki Nishida (Montreal) and Kokoro Dance • a reading of Obon: the Festival of the Dead, by Terry Watada (Toronto) • Musical guests Alcvin Ramos, Nish Rawks and more • Traditional Japanese tea service • Historical Walking Tours of the Powell Street area • Yugo: a hiphop fusion project feat. DJs, MCs & graffiti art • Literary Series feat. Kyo Maclear (Toronto), Hiromi Goto & Roy Miki • Empire's Feast: a screening of videos shorts from Vancouver and New York • Camera Project exhibition at Britannia Gallery • historical book launch by the Vancouver Japanese Language School

OTHER FESTIVAL EVENTS

30th Anniversary Gala
Thursday, July 20th, Performance Works (Granville Island)
This fundraiser for the festival features a tofu-themed dinner (by Hapa Izakaya and more), silent art auction (featuring works by Paul Wong, Isamu Noguchi and more), performances, launch of a Japanese food cookbook, and more!

Spatial Poetics V
July 8th, 8pm, Video In, 1965 Main Street
Fifth annual evening of collaborative and experimental performance and video by Asian Canadian artists, featuring premieres of new work by Paul Wong, Aretha Aoki and Tricia Collins and Trolley Bus.

LOST AND FOUND exhibit
July/August, Access Artist Run Centre, 206 Carrall Street
A collaborative project that endeavors to unearth and give contemporary expression to many of the histories and stories of the Downtown Eastside that have been, in current perceptions of the area, largely overlooked. Featuring artists Judy Chartrand, Wayde Compton and Haruko Okano.

PSF Baseball Game
August 7th, Oppenheimer Park
In honour of the legendary Asahi Baseball team, there will be a community baseball game in the park!

Kazuko Hohki in "My Husband is a Spaceman"
August 10th, Stanley Theatre
Cult fave from festivals past, Hohki returns with a delightful one-woman show about cross-cultural relationships.

MEDIA CONTACT: Miko @ Diane Kadota Arts Management - call 604.683.8240 or email [email protected]

Official Website: http://www.powellstreetfestival.com/this_fest.html