2026 Festival Applications
Applications have now closed, missed the deadline? Join the waitlist below!
2026 marks the 50th Anniversary of the Powell Street Festival, honouring five decades of Japanese Canadian (JC) creativity, resilience, and community connection. Join us on BC day long weekend, August 1st and 2nd in Oppenheimer Park! Â
This milestone year celebrates the past, present, and future through curated programs that blend festival nostalgia with new projects supported by the Japanese Canadian Legacies Society (JCLS), while highlighting emerging voices shaping the next generation of JC culture. While new opportunities are limited, we encourage artists and community members to apply this year and to stay connected for future opportunities—your creativity and vision remain essential to celebrating and shaping the future of JC arts and culture. You will find all festival applications on this page!
Applications for 2026 have now closed, selected applicants will be contacted soon!Â
Food booth and vendors apply here!
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Community Booths are intended for organizations within the Japanese Canadian and/or Downtown Eastside communities.
We prioritize artists whose work reflects Japanese Canadian histories and identities. Vendor participation is commission-based (20% of gross sales), and all vendors contribute volunteer support during set-up or other festival tasks to help make the festival possible.
Frequently Asked Questions
As mentioned, we are collaborating with the JCLS to showcase the amazing work our community has done in the past few years. We ask if your program has been funded by a JCLS fund for internal records only, and your answer will not be used to determine selections.Â
Because PSF is a historic place-based festival, we first and foremost prioritize artists and content related to Paueru gai, Vancouver, and British Columbia. The programming committee takes into account artist identity and program content as it relates to the JC community, identity, and experience.Â
Applicants who are not directly connected to the PSF community or Japanese diaspora will not be accepted.Â
Applications Open: January 22ndÂ
Applications Close: March 1stÂ
All applicants will be notified in AprilÂ
We’re using this year to develop standard artist rates and are in the process of creating internal standard artist fees for our festival programming based on our budget, national standard rates, and discussion with other arts and cultural societies. We hope to be able to share our standard rates in 2027. Thank you for your patience this year!Â
 If you have any further questions that aren’t answered on this page, please reach out to programs@powellstreetfestival.comÂ