My son and I watched as they started putting up tents in the grassy area in the park last week. We were surprised as they kept putting up more and more tents. Most festivals are held in the plaza near the entrance of Hikarigaoko Park. Some have the majority of the food and kids activities in the entrance, with "overflow" reaching back into the grassy field area. But this festival was only in the grassy field area. So, one would think it was smaller, however, that would be wrong.
The festival opened at 10 am. I knew from my friends via Line that there was a pretty long line at the entrance at that time. So I chose to wait for a bit before heading over. My son and I were planning on having lunch at the festival, so we went over shortly before noon. We could not believe the length of the line. It wound around and around. We didn't join the line to see how long it would take to get into the festival. We chose to go somewhere else for lunch and come back a could hours later when there wasn't the wait.
The entrance fee of ¥350 ($3) was good for an all-day ticket, with in-and-out privileges. We paid (for me, my son was free) and walked into the gated off area. We were greeted with all sorts of booths featuring small succulents in pots, tons of clothes (some new, some "vintage"), as well as arts and crafts. There were activities for kids that taught them about sustainability, and crafts. Although everything fit nicely into the sustainability category, it was quite eclectic.
There were several great things for kids to do. My son was super excited to decorate a t-shirt with stamps. He also liked coloring the building covered in paper.
I, of course, loved the food. The edible delights were all in one large area. There were several food trucks and booths to choose from. The meal choices varied from Indian curries, to (amazing) Baja-style tacos, to many Japanese favorites. The Japanese favorites were not your typical festival food, but higher quality/fancier foods that you would see in a restaurant. For example, my son and I got kakigori (shaved ice) with a kiwi syrup made from scratch with chunks of fruit. It was delightful.
The most interesting part of the food court was that they encouraged people to bring their own dishes! If you didn't bring your own, you could rent a plate for ¥100, with a ¥10 refund when you returned it. I also saw small boxes where you could purchase bamboo chopsticks and spoons for ¥20 on the honor system. If you brought a water bottle, one of the sponsors provided a tea station where you could fill up said water bottle with tea for free. For a country that is a HUGE consumer of plastic, this was a very nice change of pace. I got a lot of pleasure out of the creativity and dedication it took to enforce this ideal.
Mixed throughout the food trucks and booths were other food related booths. We tasted tea, perused dried fruit, and checked out rice vendors. My favorite by far had to be the pickle brine booth where you could taste and purchase pickle brines and vinegars. I may have gone a little crazy with how much I purchased at this booth, but everything was so good! I can't wait to use the 4 brines and 2 vinegars that I bought.
I really enjoyed this festival. It was a lot of fun and reminded me of Seattle in the sustainability mission and relaxed environment. I still have no idea what they meant by "Lifestyles of Health" as part of their slogan (I get the "and Sustainability" part), but maybe I missed something. It has been known to happen.
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