The festival lottery is the lifeblood of Powell Street Festival. It was launched in the early 1980s and, for many years, was the main source of income to cover the festival production costs. These days, it is the lottery’s intrinsic value that continues to fuel the festival as it represents the symbiotic relationship of community stakeholders. The lottery:

• keeps us connected to our community partners who donate the prizes;
• supports grassroots community groups who sell the tickets as a fundraiser for themselves; 
• provides an inexpensive and easy way for festival goers to show their support. 

“As a young intern 30 years ago, I phoned community supporters such as Tad’s Sporting Goods and Iwata Travel to confirm their donations. I then met a variety of small business owners as I travelled about town to collect the prizes,” explains former executive director Emiko Morita. “Since then, many factors such as the seismic changes in the travel industry and competing community lotteries—not to mention a global pandemic—have threatened to diminish the lottery program. However, to this day, our festival interns are on the telephone and tripping about town to collect prizes! We’ve been tenacious about keeping it going because it represents the strength of the Japanese Canadian community network, the very essence of Powell Street Festival.”

True to Powell Street Festival’s grassroots charm, while we offer online ticket sales, the lottery remains analog: we’ll have dedicated interns and volunteers handwriting and mailing your ticket stubs to each purchaser!