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Honouring Shig Hirai at Powell Street Festival In 1977, the same year Powell Street Festival welcomed hosted our first festival, Shig Hirai (1937 – 2025) alongside his wife Akemi founded Fujiya, a beloved Japanese grocery store. For now five decades, these two institutions grew side by side, each strengthening the Japanese Canadian community. Shig himself was a devoted festival-goer, a passionate … Read more
Volunteer at the 2026 Powell Street Festival Apply to Volunteer Here Questions? Email volunteer@powellstreetfestival.com Festival Volunteer Roles We have a range of volunteer roles available during pre-Festival, Festival Weekend, and post-Festival days. Some involve walking, lifting, and pushing a dolly, while others are more seated. You’ll be working alongside other volunteers and staff, with many … Read more
50th Annual Powell Street Festival Poster Festival Illustrator: Ella Oriye Tani Ella Oriye Tani is a Chinese Japanese Canadian illustrator and casual graphic novelist based in Burnaby, BC. She is inspired by the nature of the West Coast and is drawn to blending fantasy with aspects of her local environment. Ella attended her first Powell Street Festival when she was three years old, and ever … Read more
Add Your Heading Text Here 18th Annual Asahi Tribute Game Join us Sunday June 7th; 10-2pm at Oppenheimer park. This event is open to everyone regardless of any baseball experience. We will learn how to play the game in the morning alongside Vancouvers DUDES Club, enjoy hot dogs for lunch, then wrap up the day … Read more
Meet the 2026 Japanese Canadian Youth Cohort Powell Street Festival Society is excited to announce the members of our fifth Japanese Canadian Youth Cohort!This expenses-paid program brings three young Japanese Canadians aged 19-29 who are living outside a 100-mile radius from Oppenheimer Park to experience the Powell Street Festival and participate in its production, attend … Read more
Enemy Lines As part of our collaborative programming with the Firehall Arts Centre, the Powell Street Festival Society is proud to share Enemy Lines, a powerful dance-theatre work by choreographer Mayumi Lashbrook. Running May 6–9, 2026, Enemy Lines reflects on the forced uprooting of Japanese Canadians during the Second World War—a history deeply connected to … Read more
Goodbye Strawberry Hill Saturday May 2nd, 2026 7:30 PM Anvil Theatre Join us at Anvil Theatre for an evening of music and memory with Sharon Minemoto’s Goodbye, Strawberry Hill, a deeply personal album tracing family stories shaped by Japanese Canadian internment. Tickets available on the Anvil Theatre Site
Return to Paueru Gai: Celebrating 50 Years of Powell Street Festival at Vancouver Public Library May 20th, 2026 ⋅ 6:30pm to 8:30pm ⋅ Central Library Join us for a book event with the Vancouver Public Library to celebrate the Publication of Emiko Morita’s Return To Paueru Gai: Fifty Years of Vancouvers Powell Street Festival from … Read more
50th Anniversary Dinner Thank you to all who joined us for the Powell Street Festival 50th Anniversary Dinner & Celebration. Check out some of the memories down below.
Dance with the Ancestors As with all drums, the taiko resonates deeply with our respective ancestors. Last fall during their residency at LOBE, Kage created ‘Dance With Ancestors’ drawing from their archives of taiko recordings and mixed in inspirational works featuring collaborators who are no strangers to the Powell Street Festival community: Noriko Kobayashi – … Read more
Return to Paueru Gai: 50 Years of Powell Street Festival Exhibition March 27th through September 5th, 2026 Nikkei National Museum & Cultural Centre – 6688 Southoaks Cres, Burnaby, BC V5E 4M7 Hours: Tuesday – Friday 10:00AM – 6:00PM / Saturday & Sunday 10:00AM – 5:00PM Closed Monday and Canada Day. Admission by donation. Celebrate 50 years of Powell … Read more
I Am the Art: Nobuo Kubota Film Screening: Thursday April 9th, 2026 7:00pm The Cinematheque 1131 Howe Street Vancouver At 92, Award–winning artist Nobuo Kubota was not slowing down, he was reinventing himself. Filmmaker Anette Mangaard helped share his latest creative focus; performance art. The film offers a bold and intimate portrait of a Japanese … Read more
4th Annual Setsubun New Year Event Sunday, February 22 | 11:30 AM – 2:30 PM | Oppenheimer Park | 488 Powell St.| Free Event Join us to celebrate Setsubun in Oppenheimer Park at our annual community care event. The event will include a Indigenous sacred fire ceremony led by Elder Veronica Butler followed by mamemaki (豆まき)—the playful Japanese custom of tossing roasted soybeans … Read more
Sunday, November 30 | Starting time 12:15 PM | Lunch at 12:30 pm, Painting Workshop 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm Oppenheimer Park, 488 Powell St. at Jackson Avenue Free community event Please join us at Minori (実り) Harvest in Oppenheimer Park for a hot meal of butternut squash miso soup, followed by a printing workshop! … Read more
Poster background imagery courtesy of NASA. PSFS is thrilled to announce that TOW, the acclaimed acoustic duo from Japan, will embark on their first-ever Canada tour in November 2025. TOW will bring their uniquely cinematic sound to three cities in British Columbia: November 6, Vancouver – at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre November 8, Burnaby … Read more
in the wake of a sleeping machine Buy Tickets Now PSFS is proud to co-present in the wake of a sleeping machine, a contemporary dance performance by Japanese-Canadian artist, Shion Skye Carter, running September 4–7 in Vancouver. Inspired by the Ghibli film Howl’s Moving Castle, dancers move rhythmically as a conjoined globular form, each body … Read more
Thank You for Joining Us at the 49th Annual Powell Street Festival Thank you to everyone who came out to the 49th Annual Powell Street Festival! We were glad to welcome so many people to Oppenheimer Park and nearby venues for a weekend full of performances, food, art, and community connection. This year’s festival featured … Read more
Date: Sunday, September 14, 2025 | 10am sign-up | 11am games begin Location: Oppenheimer Park Free, Drop-in Event 日付：2025年9月14日（日曜日）10時チーム受付開始｜11時試合開始 場所:オッペンハイマー公園 無料、ドロップイン・イベント Pre-register here! Drop-in for our 17th annual Vancouver Asahi Tribute Game! 今年で17回目となるバンクーバー朝日トリビュートゲームに、ぜひお立ち寄りください！ Drop-in for our 17th annual Vancouver Asahi Tribute Game! Come play a game of ball as we commemorate the historic Vancouver Asahi: … Read more
2025 Festival Program Celebrate Japanese Canadian arts, culture, and community on August 2 & 3, 2025 Vancouver, BC — July 10, 2025 —The Powell Street Festival Society (PSFS) proudly announces the return of the 49th Annual Powell Street Festival on Saturday, August 2, and Sunday, August 3, 2025, from 11:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. at … Read more
paueru gaizette no. 7 Read this edition The seventh edition of the paueru gaizette is now available digitally! Previously released in February, the theme of the seventh edition is 初日の出 (Hatsuhinode). Hatsuhinode, the first sunrise of the year, marks a moment to resolve the previous year. This edition is a heartfelt reflection on the previous year from … Read more
Powell Street Festival Society is excited to announce the members of our fourth Japanese Canadian Youth Cohort! This expenses-paid program brings three young Japanese Canadians aged 19-29 who are living outside a 100-mile radius from Oppenheimer Park to experience the Powell Street Festival and participate in its production, attend training sessions, and to create an embodied … Read more
