For Immediate Release - Vancouver, B.C. (Tuesday, June 8, 2021) – Known as the largest Japanese
Canadian art and culture event in the country, the Powell Street Festival Society (PSFS) adapts topublic health restrictions and revamps its programming so festival-goers can stay bubble-safe yet
connected to the historic Japanese Canadian neighbourhood for its annual celebration on July 31 andAugust 1, 2021.
The 45th Powell Street Festival offers an array of on-demand creative works, on-location
performances, DIY workshops, and community-building activities. There will be no large publicgathering event. The festival website (www.powellstreetfestival.com) is the hub for its programing
throughout July, culminating in a critical mass of activity during the BC Day Long Weekend.
“We are prioritizing community connection,” says Executive Director Emiko Morita. “In consultation
with our stakeholders, we're supporting our grassroots groups to create self-sufficient, accessible
interactions and resources. Martial artists, Japanese folk singers, actors, poets, musicians anddancers will host bubble-safe programs through the internet and/or in person, these events will thenreverberate through photographs, YouTube videos, or Zoom virtual gatherings. Follow #powellstfest
to witness this high velocity of activity.”
PSFS President Edward Takayanagi says, “The spirit of Powell Street Festival is carried inside every
one of our festival goers and community groups, it is their connection to the festival that makes us
strong. We are offering a DIY package of celebrations and encouraging folks to ‘take the festival toyour own neighbourhood park!’ We envision a rippling of good festival vibes emanating from the#powellstfest hashtag.”
The On Demand content includes a showcase of local and international artist collaborations that PSFS
commissioned specifically for digital consumption, including:• Dub This Road is an innovative musical meeting of British hapa singer and recording artist
Denise Sherwood and Vancouver’s Sawagi Taiko and Onibana Taiko, featuring a special mix
and mash by legendary dub reggae producer Adrian Sherwood, masterminded by Vancouver
artist Don Chow.
• Ritual-Spective 迴融 is an online experimental media art collaboration between Kazuma Glen
Motomura カズマ・グレン 本村一真, Berlin/Tokyo based Japanese and South African••experimental dance artist, and Sammy Chien 簡上翔, Vancouver/Taipei based TaiwaneseCanadian interdisciplinary artist. The project seeks to investigate the intergenerational
dialogue on artistic, cultural and spiritual legacy, as a ritual of honouring the past, bylistening, learning and processing, then re-integrate them to what is the here and now.
Composer and singer Jody Okabe works with producer Rup Singh and film director Aya Garcia
to create an experimental electronic wave pop exploration that dives into the depths of thehuman and supernatural experience. Lending their voices to hold the space between ancientfutures by honouring the gifts of their ancestors.
Based in Vancouver, dance artist Shion Skye Carter and calligraphy artist Kisyuu create workthat adapts traditional and contemporary art forms, and celebrates their shared Japaneseheritage while embracing new media art forms. Originally premiered as a video at Powell•Street Festival in 2020, the new iteration of Flow Tide expands the artists’ exploration to theshoreline of Spanish Banks. There will be a live performance and a video edition.
From the Prairies to the Pacific Rim is an auditory experience from amiskwaciwâskahikan tothe Salish Sea. The listener is invited to join this immersive poetic soundscape andconversation with artist-activist-poets Rita Wong, Emily Riddle, Sacha Ouellet, and E. Hiroko
Isomura to journey downriver, deepening connections to language, land, waterways, and one
another, along the way.

There are also opportunities to visit the Powell Street neighbourhood, including the following sociallydistanced activities*:
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Community Food Groups will offer a menu of festival favourites that can be pre-ordered forscheduled pick-ups at the Festival Depot, Vancouver Buddhist Temple (220 Jackson Avenue),
July 31 and August 1.
Japanese crafts and merchandise will also be available for pick-up at the Festival Depot
through a partnership with Japan Market, July 31 and August 1.
Randall Okita’s Book of Distance, an animated immersive film that places the viewer inside
the context of Okita's grandfather Yonezo Okita's life during the internment of Japanese
Canadians in World War II, can be experienced at the Vancouver Japanese Language Schooland Japanese Hall (VJLS, 475 Alexander Street), July 28 to August 1, registration required.
360 Riot Walk guided tours will be offered in Cantonese, Punjabi, Japanese and English, July24, 25, 31 and August 1.
Tasai Collective will offer an immersive poetry/music installation at VJLS’s Japanese Hall,July 31.
Durational Taiko Drumming from the rooftop of VJLS will be heard from the neighbouring
streets and can be view as a live stream. Details to be confirmed.

*Advance registration is required for most events. Please visit www.powellstreetfestival.com fordetails.
Online workshops, community messages and other resources are vast. Here is a sample:••••Are you missing the festival’s annual sumo tournament? Fold origami sumo wrestlers and hostyour own paper-version competition.
Fold at least 25 origami Daruma, make wishes for your family, friends and community, drop
off your Daruma at the Festival Depot to contribute to the Daruma Well-Wishing Installation
at Oppenheimer Park, an outpouring of good will.
Join Za Daikon in their community collage project, Let’s Learn and Enjoy the Japanese Classic
Passage “Haru wa akebono…” by iconic female author, Sei Shōnagon.
Banana Bread’s instructional video describes their songwriting process, with a particular focus
on writing in Japanese. This will include inside scoops on how the members create melodies
with Japanese lyrics, along with performances of the songs.

•Learn the Paueru Mashup community dance and discover opportunities to join flash mob
performances.

For interviews, phone Duston Baranow-Watts at (604) 343-0269 or media@powellstreetfestival.com.

About Powell Street Festival Society
Powell Street Festival Society’s (PSFS) mission is to cultivate Japanese Canadian (JC) arts and culture
to connect communities. The main activity is producing Powell Street Festival (PSF), an annual
celebration of Japanese Canadian arts, music and culture in Vancouver’s historic Japanese
Canadian neighbourhood, Paueru Gai. The PSFS's vision includes a society enriched andinterconnected through Japanese Canadian arts and fostering the recognition of Japanese Canadians
as a creative force within the broader community.
A grassroots organization with social justice at its core, PSFS is deeply connected to its
geographic location in unceded Squamish, Musqueam, and Tsleil-Waututh territories. The Powell
Street neighbourhood was once a bustling Japanese Canadian community and today is known as oneof the most impoverished districts in North America, the Downtown Eastside (DTES). The festival
envisions itself as a space where progressive and quality arts presentation is an empowered
contribution to society at large, enabling conversations about diaspora, diverse histories, andcontemporary issues.
Creative social engagement is combined with traditional and contemporary art practices,
exploring Japanese Canadian diversity to its fullest. Festival programming supports a mix oftraditional and contemporary art forms. Off-season events are spaces where both emerging andestablished artists can push their practices, challenging themselves along with the audience. PSFS
connects artists across disciplines and builds communities across cultures and socio-economic divides,with a commitment to community engagement and development.
PSFS, a charitable non-profit arts organization, gratefully acknowledges the financial support of The
Canada Council for the Arts, BC Arts Council, the City of Vancouver, and its donors, all of which makethis program possible. Donations can be made via Canada Helps. www.powellstreetfestival.com