ALBUQUERQUE — On Friday, August 14, the annual Obon Festival returns to the ABQ BioPark Sasebo Japanese Garden. It celebrates Japanese culture and Albuquerque’s partnership with sister city Sasebo, Japan.
ABQ BioPark will host the Obon Festival from 6:30 to 9 p.m. in partnership with Albuquerque Sister Cities Foundation. The event has taken place annually since 2022 to honor the city’s relationship with Sasebo, Japan, which became Albuquerque’s sister city in 1966. It is held within the Sasebo Japanese Garden, a section of the Botanic Garden that was built in September 2007. The annual festival celebrates Obon, a Japanese tradition honoring ancestors through music, dance, art, and floating lanterns.
This year’s Obon Festival will offer traditional tea ceremonies, Taiko drumming, bonsai displays, calligraphy, and origami. Visitors will have the opportunity to participate in hands-on activities such as folding origami cranes for the North American Japanese Garden Association’s Gardens for Peace project, a national initiative advocating for inner peace. Other artistic activities will include painting cherry blossoms, writing haiku, and exploring nature discovery stations hosted by ABQ BioPark educators.
Regardless of weather, the festival is set to begin at 6:25 p.m. with a performance by Bushido Kenyukai, a martial and cultural arts center in Albuquerque. This opening will be followed by performances and demonstrations throughout the ABQ BioPark Japanese Garden. Tea ceremonies are scheduled for 6:45 p.m., 7:30 p.m., and 8:15 p.m., and New Mexico Taiko will perform multiple Taiko drum presentations with Bushido Kenyukai during the evening, including a closing performance at 8:40 p.m.
A key feature of the festival is the ceremony of floating lanterns, called toro nagashi, where visitors are invited to honor loved ones by setting artistic lanterns afloat on the Sasebo Japanese Garden pond; event tickets include one floating lantern each. The festival will also include guided encounters with live beetles and a bonsai exhibition by the Albuquerque Bonsai Club.
The Botanic Garden will open their gates for the event from 6:30 to last entry at 8 p.m. Organizers encourage visitors to bring their own lawn chairs and purchase tickets online in advance. General admission tickets for the event cost $25 for adults, $20 for seniors ages 65+ and children ages 3 to 12, and free for children 2 and younger. Admission will be discounted for New Mexico BioPark Society members.
Visit cabq.gov/artsculture/biopark/events/obon-festival for more information.
Nolan Rodrigues Walsh is an Albuquerque-born journalist covering community news and events. They prioritize empathy, transparency, and a community-centered approach. They can be reached on Instagram at @brantonenews.
