Pre-Festival Art Workshops

July 7th, 14th, and 21st at Oppenheimer Park 

FREE, Drop-in Events

Our pre-festival workshops at Oppenheimer Park are back again this year! Come on down to the festival grounds and kick off the celebrations with some art making and dance in community for free! We will be serving watermelon, juice, and freezies to keep cool on the warm summer days. 

Workshop 1: Button Making 

Tuesday, July 7 2026, from 1-3pm at Oppenheimer Park 

Led by Powell Street Festival staff and volunteers, you will have an opportunity to create your own buttons!  

Workshop 2: Omamori workshop  

Tuesday, July 14, 2026, from 1-3pm at Oppenheimer Park 

We are honored to have artist Midori Ueno run an Omamori workshop for us. Omamori are Japanese charms that are found at temples to grant good luck to any number of areas in one’s life.  

Workshop 3: Paueru Gai Ondo dance workshop  

Tuesday, July 21, 2026, from 1-3pm at Oppenheimer Park 

Join dancer Masami Hanashiro in the Paueru Gai Ondo dance! Paueru Gai Ondo is a community-based song and dance created to honour the history of the Powell Street neighbourhood and celebrate our Japanese Canadian community.  

Many thanks to our collaborators and funders: Oppenheimer Park and Carnegie Community Centre, WePress, Vancouver Japanese Language School & Japanese Hall, and the City of Vancouver.