Go Metro to the 70th Annual Nisei Week Japanese Festival
Go Metro to celebrate with the Japanese American community at the 70th Annual Nisei Week Japanese Festival August 14-22 in Little Tokyo.
Held every summer, the nation’s longest running ethnic festival of its kind will be packed with nine days of free Japanese cultural events, activities and exhibits featuring a variety of music, entertainment, food and fun for all age groups. Events will be held throughout the Little Tokyo area.
Getting to Little Tokyo is easy on public transportation and helps reduce congestion and parking hassles in the area. Festival goers from all over L.A. County can travel to Union Station, then board an eastbound Metro Gold Line train a short hop to the Little Tokyo/Arts District Station. Several Metro Bus Lines, including Metro Lines 30, 31, 40, 42, 439 and Metro Rapid 730 also conveniently serve the area. Some bus routes will be detoured for parade activities on Sunday, Aug. 15. Check Metro.net for specific timetable and detour information.
The first week of the 70th annual Nisei Week Japanese Festival will color the streets of Little Tokyo with events like the Tanabata Festival, car shows, cultural exhibits, sumo demonstrations and the Grand Parade. The Grand Parade will cap off the festival's first week featuring Nebuta floats, which are made of colorful Japanese paper and lights. Figure skater Mirai Nagasu is this year’s parade marshal while the Grand marshal will be long-time Nisei Week volunteer Hideo Kikuchi.
The second week will feature more free exhibits and events, as well as the Nisei Week Film Festival featuring Japanese American history and pop culture films. There will also be the 4th annual Dae-Lee Foods Gyoza Eating Contest, where world eating champion Joey Chestnut has won three consecutive years. The week ends with some of Los Angeles’ best taiko groups performing during the day’s taiko gathering. Ondo Street dancing will be held on Sunday, August 22 at 3:30 p.m. on Little Tokyo’s First Street. The public is encouraged to join in this Japanese street dancing ritual.
Both weekends feature live entertainment, food and fun for the entire family. Come take part and experience one of Los Angeles’ premier summer cultural events.
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) will provide an information booth at the festival that will enable the public to learn more about planned regional transportation projects, including the Regional Connector Transit Corridor Study now in environmental review. With a planned stop in Little Tokyo, the Regional Connector project will create an almost two-mile transit link between the Metro Gold Line, Metro Blue Line and Expo light rail transit (LRT) systems through Downtown Los Angeles.
For more information, visit NiseiWeek.org or call the Nisei Week office at (213) 687-7193. For more information on Metro services, visit metro.net or call 1-800-COMMUTE.
