Contributors to the new book Return to Paueru Gai: Fifty Years of Vancouver’s Powell Street Festival explore the festival’s past, present, and future. Editor Emiko Morita and essayists Izumi Sakamoto and Julia Aoki read short excerpts, followed by a discussion moderated by Kimiko Dorey on the festival’s role today and its path forward.

Emiko Morita, PSF’s executive director from 2015–2024, curated the Return to Paueru Gai exhibition and edited its companion book; she now leads Resonate, a Downtown Eastside community art initiative. Izumi Sakamoto is a Japan-born scholar, associate professor at the University of Toronto’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, and founder of the Japanese Canadian Arts and Activism Project. Julia Aoki (shin-nisei) is a writer, researcher, and advocate who has led Megaphone magazine, VIVO Media Arts Centre, and PSF’s programming. Kimiko Dorey (she/her) is a sansei neurodiverse educator and singer.