In 2013 we ran a pilot Festival of Japanese Culture, which celebrated the culture of Japan. Bringing together film screenings, martial arts demonstrations, live music, art exhibitions and food largely over one day, the event was a great success, attracting around 150 people to the event. The following year, we were approached by Lexus Lincoln to run a launch event for the new Lexus NX, focusing once again on a diverse mix of Japanese culture. Once again, this proved to be popular, so we decided to expand on our previous work to bring a week long festival of cultural events to the city of Lincoln.
The project was ambitious and exciting, but despite its challenges, the events were a huge success. We did our best to engage with and work alongside local independant businesses and were elated to find ourselves collaborating with a variety of talented people from across the globe to bring low-cost cultural events into the city.
The festival ran from the 3rd - 10th October 2015 and was attended by upwards of 1,000 people. The festival introduced the beautiful culture of Japan into the city of Lincoln as well as encouraging the celebration and acceptance of different cultures. Throughout the festival week we had a wide variety of events that allowed for everyone to find something they would enjoy, including film screenings with expert talks, Japanese craft workshops, martial arts classes, free live music, art exhibitions and lots more.
During the 8 day festival many of our events were completely sold out, including workshops in origami craft, calligraphy and sushi making as well as our traditional tea ceremony! During the week there were also a variety of other highly popular free events, including the city’s third PechaKucha and a Nintendo Gaming Event, which attracted over 200 people. In the future we hope to continue the growth of Japan Festival in Lincoln, allowing it to expand and reach its full potential over the coming years.