Melbourne Japanese Summer Festival 2015

Overview

Get a taste of Tokyo in the Melbourne CBD, when the Japanese Summer Festival hits Federation Square this Saturday. Now in its sixth year, this annual event showcases the best of traditional and contemporary Japanese culture, with food stalls, activities and a host of live entertainment.

The event is a celebration of Japan’s annual Bon festival, a summer tradition of honouring one's ancestors. Visitors can learn the art of origami, paper fan making and calligraphy, while being entertained by dancers and musicians on the main stage. If you find yourself getting hungry, you can head down to the River Terrace, where food stalls operated by some of Melbourne’s most popular Japanese restaurants will be serving everything from soft shell crab salad to barbecue teriyaki.

Of course, no festival experience could compare to actually visiting Japan yourself. Luckily, organisers have got you covered there as well, with the grand prize in this year's festival raffle including two business class plane tickets straight to Tokyo.