2023 Annual Bon Fest Chicago Festival Event (お盆, also known as Bon Festival) Bon Odori Dancing, Taiko Drumming, & Festivities..)NEW

The Japanese Art Foundation and Japanese Culture Center in partnership with the Chicago Park District, Shubukai, and Tsukasa Taiko are excited to announce the BON Fest Chicago / 盆フェスト・シカゴ. 

This event will showcase Bon Odori dancing, taiko drumming, and festivities held in the Garden of the Phoenix in Jackson Park, Chicago.

At this time, there is no official schedule. Please subscribe to our newsletter in order to be the first to find out when the event will be held and how to attend.

In order to protect the sanctity of the Garden, attendance at the event is very limited.

Event Date
August 12, 2023, Saturday

Event Time
8:00 pm - 10:00 pm

Jackson Park Map

Festival History
A Bon Festival ( or Obon Matsuri) occurs during the hottest part of the summer when it said that distance the natural and supernatural world is the smallest. People then come together to remember those that have passed on or where lost as a community. Traditionally, a specific regional style of dancing and music is performed by those in attendance to welcome spirits.

Our hope is to use the festival as an opportunity for our community to heal and process the tremendous loss and damage the COVID-19 pandemic has caused through the arts.

The Bon Odori Association of Japan, Asian Improv Arts Midwest, and Shubukai’s Fujima Yoshinojo will be helping to support this important new event. Fujima Sensei is also a resident artist of the Japanese Arts Foundation and instructor at the Japanese Culture Center, and we will be hosting virtual Bon Odori dance lessons on 3 Tuesdays leading up to the Bon Fest, so everyone can participate from the convenience of their own home.

About Japanese Art Foundation 
The Japanese Art Foundation and Culture Center in partnership with the Chicago Parks District, Tsukasa Taiko and Shubukai invite you to the inaugural BON Fest Chicago. Join us virtually Saturday, July 31st at 8:00pm for taiko drumming, bon odori dancing, and festivities in Chicago’s historical Garden of the Phoenix in Jackson Park. The BON Fest Chicago is entirely virtual this year, but will expand to welcome everyone in the years to come!

An Obon Matsuri / Bon Festival is traditionally held in the peak heat of summer when space between the natural and the supernatural world is thinnest. This is a time when individuals come together to remember ancestors and those lost as a community. As we continue to process the tremendous loss from the COVID-19 pandemic, we welcome our community to come together through the arts. Traditionally, Bon Odori dancing is performed by those in attendance to welcome spirits, though each community and region has their own style of dance and music.

With the support of the Bon Odori Association of Japan, Asian Improv aRts Midwest and Shubukai’s Fujima Yoshinojo, we will host virtual Bon Odori dance lessons on 3 Tuesdays in July leading up to the fest so you can join in from home!

About Japanese Cultural Center
The Japanese Culture Center was established in 1977 in Chicago by Aikido Shihan (Teacher of Teachers) and Zen Master Fumio Toyoda to make some of the martial arts, crafts, and philosophical riches of Japan available to the public.

Today the JCC continues this tradition, offering classes in over a dozen martial and cultural arts. The Center is not a museum where lifeless objects are displayed; it is a school where living skills are passed on person to person from generation to generation. You become an active participant in arts that have been around for hundreds, if not thousands of years.

We invite you to visit and experience the richness and complexity of knowledge cultivated around the world. Upon entering the Center you will see a wooden panel on which are carved the characters “Ten Shin Kan,” or “Place of the Universal Mind/Body/Spirit”. In the spirit of the traditional training halls, the JCC is a true “Dojo”, or “House of the Way”.

Previous Title
Bon Fest Chicago Festival Event (盆フェスト・シカゴ) Virtual (Live from the Garden of the Phoenix in Jackson Park with Music & Dancing)