Press release Archives

See below for past press releases by year.

PSFS Proudly announces a day celebrating boundary-breaking contributions to Taiko drumming inspired by Finding Her Beat | with free and ticked events in downtown Vancouver on Saturday, February 18, 2023 Read More

Celebrate Japanese Canadian art and culture at the 47th Annual Powell Street Festival | August 5-6, 2023. Read More

On Difficult and Necessary Conversations: An Update on Powell Street Festival Fall Programming | November 2, 2023. Read More

PSFS Presents StudioProgramsounds’ Kūsou/空相 at Anvil Theatre in New Westminster in association with New Media Gallery, Anvil Theatre, and Formscape Arts Society | This a new immersive audio-visual installation draws on Japanese calligraphy and western flute. Read More

Announcing the 46th Annual Powell Street Festival | What’s old is new at the 46th Annual Powell Street Festival as we gather in-person to celebrate Japanese Canadian art and culture in Oppenheimer Park and Paueru Gai (the Powell Street area) this July 30 and 31! Read More

Road Work: Street Photography from the 70s & 80s | Powell Street Festival Society in association
with DKAM and the Chinese Canadian Historical Society of British Columbia proudly present Road
Work: Street Photography from the 70s and 80s, a slideshow and talk with photographer Greg Soone. Read more

PSFS Receives Support for Workers in Live Arts and Music Sectors Fund Grant from Canadian Heritage | Powell Street Festival Society (PSFS) is proud to announce the support of Canadian Heritage’s Support for Workers in Live Arts and Music Sectors FundRead More

PSFS Announces Director of Operations Position | The Powell Street Festival Society is excited to share that our organization is growing … Read More

Surrey Art Gallery Partnership | The 45th Powell Street Festival is partnering with the Surrey Art Gallery, also celebrating their 45th anniversary … Read More

45th Annual Powell Street Festival Announcement | Powell Street Festival Society adapts to public health restrictions and revamps its programming so festival-goers can stay bubble-safe yet connected to the historic Japanese Canadian neighbourhood … Read More

Powell Street Festival Society Announces the Stewardship of 360 Riot Walk | PSFS is proud to announce its stewardship of 360 Riot Walk created by artist Henry Tsang … Read More

Powell Street Festival Telethon raised $64,389 for the PowellStFest Community Kitchen Program!! | Due to the COVID19 health crisis, the 44th annual Powell Street Festival pivoted from it’s traditional in-person celebration to an online Telethon … Read More

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! … Read 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 … Read More

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

Mask Making Workshop | In partnership with the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation … Read More

Pulling Together | Dear Powell Street Festival friends and family: maintaining community connection and drawing on our individual and collective strengths is essential during this turbulent time. We are committed to employing safe and innovative ways to connect and support communities through Japanese Canadian (JC) arts and culture … Read More 

Spring Nikkei Artist Mixer | In order to contribute to public health efforts, and to quickly and effectively comply with recommendations from Health Canada and BC Health, we have made the difficult decision to cancel this event until further notice …

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

Hiring Festival Production Team: Production Associate, Production Coordinator, Volunteer Coordinator | Powell Street Festival Society seeks a dedicated team player for the position of Production Associate for the 44th annual Powell Street Festival.  This temporary position is a full-time position (35 hr/week) and will start on May 11 and end the last week of August 2020 …

Update from Powell Street Festival | Happy New Year wishes to you all! We are now officially gearing up for the 44th Powell Street Festival, August 1 and 2, 2020.  Please welcome our new permanent parttime staff … Read More

Powell Street Festival Issues Statement Regarding Oppenheimer Park (July 4, 2019) – Download PDF ›

43rd Annual Powell Street Festival Lineup (June 20, 2019) – features a wide variety of international and local talent. Musical highlights include Yuni Mori, who will bring her original piano compositions and delicate voice from Yamanashi, Japan, Teke::Teke, a seven-piece band from Montreal who will rock their Takeshi Terauchi-inspired blend of shoe-gaze, post-rock and noise, and from Seattle, Katrina Wolfe will unveil a shape-shifting butoh experience. Download PDF ›

High-Resolution Images

Please click thumbnails to see full image to download.

Powell Street Festival Lineup Announced with Tatsuya Nakatani, Emma Lee Toyoda, Sophia Akiko Stephens, More 
Download PDF ›

Powell Street Festival Society’s Annual Evening of Experimental Performance Pieces Returns June 15th with Spatial Poetics XVII: ONCE LOST 
Download PDF ›

SFU Art Students Win Powell Street Festival’s Design Competition with Karakasa Obake 
Download PDF ›

High-Resolution Images

Please click thumbnails to see full image to download.

Powell Street Festival Returns August 5 – 6 with Haruki Murakami’s Top Translators, Almost Asian’s Katie Malia, and a Presentation of Japan’s Third Gender
Musical highlights include Australia’s ‘George & Noriko’, Japan’s ‘Ensemble Liberta’ and numerous taiko groups including California’s ‘JODAIKO’
Download PDF ›

Powell Street Festival Society issues a statement regarding its decision in support of censorship Read More >

The Powell Street Festival Society in association with the O k’inādās Collective present: Spatial Poetics XVI: KIYO 生き残り Honouring the living memory of invisible lives
Download PDF ›

Download PDFs

2017 Festival Program Guide (PDF, 9MB)

Festival 2017 Schedule (PDF, 1MB)

High Resolution Images

Please click thumbnails to see full image to download.

Photo of George and Noriko
George and Noriko
Photo of Katie Malia from Almost Asian
Katie Malia
from Almost Asian
Still from Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour's award winning short film BORN WITH IT
Still from Emmanuel Osei-Kuffour’s award-winning short film Born With It
Photo of Japanese Calligrapher Kisyuu
Kisyuu Caligraphy
Photo of Soramaru Takayama
Soramaru Takayama
Photo of Leslie Komori of JODAIKO performing at the 2015 Powell Street Festival
JODAIKO
at the 2015 Festival
Katari Taiko at the 2014 Powell Street Festival • photo by [stu-di-o] by jeanie
Katari Taiko
at the 2014 Festival

Photo credit: [stu-di-o] by jeanie
Photo of Roku Shichi Taiko at the 2016 Powell Street Festival taken by Kristin Fuchihara
Roku Shichi Taiko
at the 2016 Festival

Photo credit: Kristin Fuchihara
Photo of the Daruma at the 2016 Powell Street Festival taken by Kristin Fuchihara
Daruma
at the 2016 Festival

Photo credit: Kristin Fuchihara
Photo of Omikoshi at the 2016 Powell Street Festival taken by Lucas Lau
Omikoshi
at the 2016 Festival

Photo credit: Lucas Lau
Kyudo Demonstration by the Kyudo Association of Canada at the 2016 Festival
Photo credit: Kristin Fuchihara
Imagawayaki
at the 2016 Festival

Photo credit: Kristin Fuchihara
Photo of Shorinji Kempo at the 2016 Powell Street Festival by Kritstin Fuchihara
Shorinji Kempo
at the 2016 Festival

Photo credit: Kristin Fuchihara
Photo of Daruma at the 2016 Powell Street Festival taken by Kristin Fuchihara
Daruma
at the 2016 Festival

Photo credit: Kristin Fuchihara
Photo of Demon Dance Ondeko Gumi from the 2016 Powell Street Festival taken by Kristin Fuchihara
Demon Dance Ondeko Gumi
at the 2016 Festival

Photo credit: Ed Law
Photo of crowd doing the Tanko Bushi at the 2016 Powell Street Festival taken by Noah Photography
Tanko Bushi
at the 2016 Festival

Photo credit: Noah Photography
Omikoshi
at the 2016 Festival

Photo credit: Lucas Lau
Sumo
at the 2016 Festival

Photo credit: Ed Law
Sumo
at the 2016 Festival

Photo credit: Ed Law
Photo of Yakisoba at the 2016 Powell Street Festival taken by Kristin Fuchihara
Yakisoba
at the 2016 Festival

Photo credit: Kristin Fuchihara
Photo of Daruma at the 2016 Powell Street Festival taken by Jack Lin
Daruma
at the 2016 Festival

Photo credit: Jack Lin
Photo of the Omikoshi at the 2016 Powell Street Festival taken by Lucas Lau
Omikoshi
at the 2016 Festival

Photo credit: Lucas Lau
Photo of Aliens Photo Booth at the 2016 Powell Street Festival by Kristin Fuchihara
Aliens Photo Booth
at the 2016 Festival

Photo credit: Kristin Fuchihara
Photo of demonstration by Shito Ryu Karate at the 2016 Powell Street Festival by Kristin Fuchihara
Shito Ryu Karate
at the 2016 Festival

Photo credit: Kristin Fuchihara
 

Video and additional photography available upon request.

Powell Street Festival to celebrate 40 years with Diyet and Chordophone on July 30th – 31st
Expanded festival site will include a block party on Alexander Street, interactive games in Oppenheimer Park and more food and craft vendors
Download PDF ›

High Resolution Images

Please click thumbnails to see full image.

Photo of Diyet
Diyet
Photo of Miyama McQueen-Tokita.
Miyama McQueen-Tokita
Photo of Chordophone.
Chordophone
Photo of Lynne Kutsukake by Edmond Lee.
Lynne Kutsukake
Photo credit: Edmond Lee
 
Photo of Dharmakasa by Beverly Malcolm Photography
Dharmakasa
Photo credit: Beverly Malcolm Photography
Photo of Aikido Demonstration at the 2015 Powell Street Festival by [stu-di-o] by jeanie
Aikido Demo
2015 Powell Street Festival
Photo credit: [stu-di-o] by jeanie
Photo of JODAIKO at the 2015 Powell Street Festival by [stu-di-o] by jeanie
JODAIKO
2015 Powell Street Festival
Photo credit: [stu-di-o] by jeanie
Photo of the Sumo Tournament at the 2015 Powell Street Festival by Alphonse Leong.
Sumo Tournament
2015 Powell Street Festival
Photo credit: Alphonse Leong
Katari Taiko at the 2014 Powell Street Festival • photo by [stu-di-o] by jeanie
Katari Taiko
2014 Powell Street Festival
Photo credit: [stu-di-o] by jeanie
Rakuichi Omikoshi
2014 Powell Street Festival
Photo credit: Lucas Lau
Vancouver Okinawa Taiko at the 2014 Powell Street Festival • photo by [stu-di-o] by jeanie
Vancouver Okinawa Taiko
2014 Powell Street Festival
Photo credit: [stu-di-o] by jeanie
Photo of Sumo Tournament at 2013 Powell Street Festival - by Noah Photography
Sumo Tournament
2013 Powell Street Festival
Photo credit: Noah Photography
Katari Taiko 2009 • photo by [stu-di-o] by jeanie
Katari Taiko
2009 Powell Street Festival
Photo credit: [stu-di-o] by jeanie
Sawagi Taiko • photo by Adam PW Smith Photography
Sawagi Taiko
Photo credit: Adam PW Smith Photography
Martial Arts Demonstration 2009 • photo Greg Masuda
Martial Arts Demonstration
2009 Powell Street Festival
Photo credit: Greg Masuda
 

Video and additional photography available upon request.

The Powell Street Festival will return to Oppenheimer Park on August 1st and 2nd, 2015
Diverse Lineup of Performances to include Taiko Collaboration “Against The Current,” Pianist Niho Takase, and Author/Environmentalist David Suzuki
Download PDF ›

High-Resolution Images

Please click thumbnails to see full image.

Rachel Iwaasa
Rachel Iwaasa
Photo of David Suzuki
David Suzuki
Photo Credit: Courtesy of the David Suzuki Foundation
Photo of Mark Ikeda © Marc J Chalifoux Photography, 2013. www.marcjchalifoux.wordpress.com
Mark Ikeda
Photo Credit: Marc J Chalifoux Photography, 2013
Photo of Bernie Arai
Bernie Arai
Image from NIKKEI STORIES. The Vancouver Asahi team, courtesy Nikkei National Museum,
Image from NIKKEI STORIES.
The Vancouver Asahi team, courtesy Nikkei National Museum
Katari Taiko at the 2014 Powell Street Festival • photo by [stu-di-o] by jeanie
Katari Taiko
at the 2014 Powell Street Festival
Photo credit: [stu-di-o] by jeanie
Rakuichi Omikoshi 2014
Photo credit: Lucas Lau
Vancouver Okinawa Taiko at the 2014 Powell Street Festival • photo by [stu-di-o] by jeanie
Vancouver Okinawa Taiko
at the 2014 Powell Street Festival
Photo credit: [stu-di-o] by jeanie
Photo of Sumo Tournament at 2013 Powell Street Festival - by Noah Photography
Sumo Tournament at the
2013 Powell Street Festival

Photo credit: Noah Photography
Katari Taiko 2009 • photo by [stu-di-o] by jeanie
Katari Taiko 2009
Photo credit: [stu-di-o] by jeanie
Sawagi Taiko • photo by Adam PW Smith Photography
Sawagi Taiko
Photo credit: Adam PW Smith Photography
Martial Arts Demonstration 2009 • photo Greg Masuda
Martial Arts Demonstration 2009
Photo credit: Greg Masuda
 

Video and additional photography available upon request.

The Powell Street Festival Announces New Site Plans
Main site for this weekend’s festival to be a car-free ‘Block Party’ centered at Alexander St and Jackson Ave; All performances, vendors and activities to continue
Download PDF ›
Download the new map PDF ›

The Powell Street Festival Society issues statement on upcoming festival and state of affairs in Oppenheimer Park
Download PDF ›

The Powell Street Festival Returns for 38th Year with Eclectic Program of Artists and Activities:
Kytami, Tomo Nakayama and Sprïng among dozens of artists set to perform; Full line-up including set times and schedule announced
Download PDF ›

Powell Street Festival Announces Special Events to Launch this year’s Festival:
SoCal’s GRMLN and Vancouver’s Late Spring to rock festival launch party; Emi Honda and Jordan McKenzie bring ‘Music Temple’ to Centre A
Download PDF ›

The Powell Street Festival Society presents Spatial Poetics XIII: WeMix
Download PDF ›

High Resolution Images

GRMLN
GRMLN
photo of Kytami by Cassie O'Neil
Kytami
Photo credit: Cassie O’Neil
Emi Honda and Jordan McKenzie • photo by Elfin Saddle
Emi Honda and Jordan McKenzie
photo credit Elfin Saddle
Photo of Tomo Nakayama • Photo credit: Gary Chou
Tomo Nakayama
Photo credit: Greg Chou
Leanne Dunic
Leanne Dunic
 
Sawagi Taiko • photo by Adam PW Smith Photography
Sawagi Taiko
Photo credit: Adam PW Smith Photography
Sofia from Hafu Film
Sofia from Hafu Film
Shout!White Dragon
Shout!WhiteDragon
Photo of Sprïng by Katie Huisman
Sprïng
Photo credit: Katie Huisman
Photo of JODAIKO
JODAIKO
Stephanie Nakagawa
Stephanie Nakagawa
Anime Evolution
Anime Evolution
Photo of Sumo Tournament at 2013 Powell Street Festival - by Noah Photography
Sumo Tournament at the
2013 Powell Street Festival
Photo credit: Noah Photography
Photo of Crowd at 37th Powell Street Festival in 2013 - by Richard Tom
Crowd at the
2013 Powell Street Festival
Photo credit: Richard Tom
Photo of bonsai by Edward Law
Bonsai
Photo credit: Edward Law
 
Katari Taiko 2009 Jeanie Ow
Katari Taiko 2009
Photo credit: Jeanie Ow
Rakuichi Omikoshi 2009Jeanie Ow
Rakuichi Omikoshi 2009
Photo credit: Jeanie Ow
Martial Arts Demonstration 2009Greg Masuda
Martial Arts Demonstration 2009
Photo credit: Greg Masuda
 

Video and additional photography available upon request.

Search