Announcing: Powell Street Festival Telethon on August 1, 2020 from 2pm –7pm  

Celebrate Japanese Canadian culture while giving back to your community! Join us for a LIVE online telethon August 1, 2020 from 2pm – 7pm to watch live performances, highlights from previous festivals, appearances from festival vendors, and so much more. Tune in with your family and friends to experience the spirit of the festival right from your home! The Powell Street Festival Society (PSFS) produces the annual Japanese Canadian (JC) outdoor festival that takes place in the historic JC neighbourhood, Paueru Gai located in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside Side (DTES). The… More ›

The 44th Powell Street Festival cancelled as a public gathering event 

Due to the current COVID-19 crisis, the 44th Powell Street Festival is cancelled as a public gathering event. The Powell Street Festival Society (PSFS) board is directing its staff to follow public safety guidelines and to continue consulting with community stakeholders to reconceptualize a safe and innovative celebration of Japanese Canadian arts and culture. “Our festival is first and foremost, a celebration of community and culture.  We may not be gathering together physically but we are united in spirit.  Because of… More ›

Winners of the 5th Annual Public Art and Design Competition for Powell Street Festival Announced 

Vancouver, BC (Monday, May 4, 2020) – UBC’s School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture students Shaheed H. Karim and Amy Wu are the winners of the 5th Annual Public Art and Design Competition for Powell Street Festival Society. The team has been awarded a $1000 prize for their proposal titled Go Kingyo, a production budget, and mentorship from Revery Architecture and Abaton Projects.  The Go Kingyo installation takes inspiration from the goldfish which, in Japan, is a symbol of… More ›

Curatorial Applications for the 44th Powell Street Festival are Now OPEN 

The Powell Street Festival Society is passionate about providing opportunities for new, emerging, mid-career and senior professional artists of Japanese heritage working in literary, visual, performing, new media, and inter- and community arts fields. If you are interested in curating a performance or program this year, please contact our Program Coordinator at samanthaatpowellstreetfestival.com with your CV/bio and proposed program details (type of program, duration, collaborators,… More ›

Hiring Festival Production Team: Production Associate, Production Coordinator, Volunteer Coordinator – Applications due February 21, 2020

JOB POSTING  The Powell Street Festival Society’s (PSFS) mission is to cultivate Japanese Canadian art and culture to connect communities. The main activity is producing the Powell Street Festival (PSF), an annual celebration of Japanese Canadian arts, music and culture in Vancouver’s historic Japanese Canadian neighbourhood, Paueru Gai in the Downtown Eastside (DTES). With the support of over 250 volunteers, this two-day free event… More ›

Fill out our survey!

Did you attend the Powell Street Festival on August 3 or 4, 2019? Please fill out our survey and tell us how we did!   Image credit: Keric Wu

Congratulations to our Lottery Winners!

Please pick up your lottery prize between August 12th to 23rd from 10 am to 4 pm. After August 23rd, contact Cara at admin@powellstreetfestival.com to pick up your prize by appointment.   Prize # Winning Ticket # Winner’s Name Name of Prize 1 2273 Themba Tana Flight to Japan for two and $200 in J-station Credit 2 2275 Yuki Kawai Dinner… More ›

Lottery Tickets being sold by local businesses!

Powell Street Festival Lottery tickets for the 2019 season are available now until July 19th at the following businesses:  Blim 115 E. Pender St.  Dosanko Restaurant 566 Powell St.  Kami Insurance #200-678 W. Broadway St.  Massy Books 229 E. Georgia St.  Benny Foods 598 Union Street All proceeds from lottery ticket sales directly support the Powell Street Festival Society, more information can be found about the lottery here. Please… More ›

We’re hiring!

FESTIVAL CREW (3 positions)  Powell Street Festival Society seeks dedicated team players for the position of Festival Crew for the 43rd annual Powell Street Festival.  This temporary position is a full-time position, starting the first week of July and ending August 24, 2019.  To see the full job posting click here….

Ashi Ato: Winner of the 4th Annual Public Art Competition

Emily Carr University of Art and Design student Shayla Giroux is the winner of the 4th Annual Public Art Competition for Powell Street Festival Society. Giroux is joined by fellow student and collaborator Zenyase Hunsberger for the development and production stages. The team has been awarded a $1000 prize, a production budget, and mentorship from Revery Architecture and Abaton Projects…. More ›

Deadline Extended: Festival Applications due March 18

Our application deadline has been extended to March 18 at midnight! Participate in the Festival    

Powell Street Festival Applications NOW OPEN!

Apply to participate in the 2019 Powell Street Festival in Oppenheimer Park on Saturday & Sunday, August 3rd and 4th, 2019. For Community Booths 2019 Community Booth Application For Craft Vendors 2019 Craft Vendor Application For Displays 2019 Display Application For Food Booth Vendors If you have not been a Food Booth Vendor at the Festival before, please contact Emiko… More ›

4th Annual Public Art Competition for Powell Street Festival

Presented in partnership with Revery Architecture and Abaton Projects, students are invited to design an interactive artwork for the 43rd Anniversary Powell Street Festival, scheduled for August 3 and 4, 2019. The winning submission is awarded mentorship from Revery Architecture and Abaton Projects, and a commission and production budget to build their design. The submission deadline is March 27 at… More ›

Interested in participating in Powell Street Festival?

Sign up for our applications mailing list. We send out a notice once annually that Powell Street Festival application are open. Our 2019 Festival applications will open early in the new year! Image by Kristin Fuchihara

Estimating attendance at the Powell Street Festival 2014-2018

Thank you to Carl Schwartz of Simon Fraser University for providing the science behind our festival statistics. Read all about how we estimated 22,838 attendees at the 2018 festival!!!    

Lost and Found

Did you loose something at the Powell Street Festival? Contact us as soon as possible to find out if it is in our Lost and Found. We will be donating all unclaimed Lost and Found items by Friday, September 21st! Email us at admin@powellstreetfestival.com or call 604-739-9388 and leave a message if we are out of the office.

Announcing Our Lucky 2018 Lottery Winners!

Pick up with a valid ticket stub and/or government issued photo id at our office at 410 – 111 West Hastings Street from 10 am to 5 pm, Monday through Friday during the month of August.   Call 604-739-9388 or email admin@powellstreetfestival.com to make other arrangements.   2 round trip tickets to Japan via JAL & $200 in J-station credit… More ›

Fill out our audience survey!!

Did you attend the Powell Street Festival on August 4 and 5. Fill out our audience survey and let us know what you think!

Get your 2018 Festival T-shirt next weekend!

Powell Street Festival Merchandise パウエル祭商品 2018 Limited Edition T-Shirt/Tank, design by Yurie Hoyoyon | $20 2018パウエル祭限定Ｔシャツ／タンクトップ Vintage festival adult/child T-shirts | $10 パウエル祭ヴィンテージＴシャツ　大人サイズ＄15　子供サイズ＄10 Fox organic tote bag | $15 フォックス・オーガニック　トートバック Octopus tote bag | $18 たこトートバッグ Reusable Shopping Bag (Black) | $5 ショッピングバッグ　（黒） Tenugui with silkscreened design by Yurie Hoyoyon |$7 オリジナル手ぬぐい Festival Water Bottle (silver) | $15 パウエル祭オリジナル水筒（シルバー） Daruma… More ›

Pick up your 2018 Festival Program at these locations

In partnership with The Bulletin/Geppo and the Greater Vancouver Japanese Canadian Citizens’ Association, our program guide is available at listed locations. You can also download the the entire 2018 Festival Program Guide (PDF, 9MB) or the Festival 2018 Schedule (PDF, 3.3MB) to see a summary of all that’s going on on Sat, Aug 4th and Sun, Aug 5th. You can… More ›

2018 Powell Street Festival Lineup

We are thrilled to announce the lineup of performers for the 42nd annual Powell Street Festival featuring a wide variety of local and international talent. One of the many musical highlights is virtuoso percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani, who, along with the Nakatani Gong Orchestra (a 14-person gong ensemble), kicks off his B.C. tour at the festival. Other international guests include sadgrrlrocker… More ›