Tanabata Festival

When

All dates

Where

Description

Tanabata is a Japanese summer festival. The festival  celebrates the meeting of the deities Hikoboshi and Orihime – two celestial lovers represented by the stars Altair and Vega, which are usually separated by the Milky Way. According to legend, they are only allowed to meet once per year and this meeting occurs on the seventh lunar month of the lunisolar calendar. It is traditional for people to write their wishes on colorful strips of paper called tanzaku papers and affix them to bamboo branches.

Join us in the Japanese Garden to learn more about the story of Tanabata. 

Note for 2019: Because of the recent fire in the Japanese Garden, we had to alter the Tanabata activities slightly. Wish making stations will occur at the bamboo grove near the entrance of the Japanese Garden instead of the traditional location on the deck of the Japanese Garden. As available, docents will lead origami-making sessions and these pieces can also be hung in the grove.