AdventureAsia: Family Days at the Crow
Tanabata (Japanese Star) Festival
Saturday, August 07, 2010
10 AM – 2 PM
Join us for a day inspired by Tanabata (Japanese Star) Festival. Said to date back more than 2,000 years, the tanabata tradition is based on a folk tale in which two lovers, the Weaver Star Vega and the Cowherd Star Altair, are separated by the Milky Way and allowed to meet only once a year.
Writing Tanabata Wishes
10 AM – 2 PM | Gallery III
During Tanabata, families write wishes on narrow strips of colored paper or tanzaku and hang them on bamboo branches in backyards or entrances to homes. Create your own tanzaku and star ornaments for your home.
Star Festival Origami
10 AM – 2 PM | Gallery III
Using origami, the traditional folk art of Japanese paper folding, transform pieces of paper into star sculptures and kimonos. Supplies limited.
Japanese Treats
10 AM – 2 PM | Gallery III
Sample delicious Japanese candies in honor of Tanabata.
Kamishibai Story Telling
Presented by the Japan-America Society of Dallas/Fort Worth
11 AM – 11:30 AM and 1 PM – 1:30 PM | Gallery III
Literally translated to paper drama, kamishibai is a form of storytelling originating in Japanese Buddhist temples in the 12th century. Today, kamishibai storytellers use a set of illustrated boards, inserted into a stage and withdrawn one by one as the story is told. Join storytellers from the Japan-American Society of Dallas/Fort Worth as they bring to life The Story of Tanabata.
Japanese Folk Dancing
12 PM | Gallery III
Learn about the graceful and beautiful dances used in Japan to celebrate Tanabata.
Tanabata Face Painting
12 PM – 2 PM | Jade Room
Let artists from Your Enchanted Face transform you into a celebration of stars, cherry blossoms, or kabuki theatre actors. Face painting available on a first-come first-served basis.
Did you know Dallas’s sister city, Sendai, hosts the most famous Tanabata festival in all of Japan? The Sendai Tanabata Festival (as seen in the photo above) is a traditional event with a 400-year history. A major highlight of the festival is the decoration of Sendai's shopping arcades with over 1,500 tanabata-kazari, streamers and strips of decorated Japanese paper suspended from green bamboo. Sendai is transformed by these colorful decorations, and watching them blow in the breeze allows visitors to experience the sensation of Japanese summertime turning into autumn.