Dolls of a more traditional sort are featured in a special exhibit illustrating their importance in Japan's culture. The Festival's weekday schedule includes children's storytimes, cooking demonstrations, and talks on chrysanthemums, tea, bonsai, and other Japanese arts. On weekends, visiting artists perform dance, ethnic music, strolling puppet theatre, martial arts, and a tea ceremony.
Weekends also offer a family activity room featuring Japanese crafts, games, and collections.
The Terrace Restaurant featuring cafeteria and full-service dining and the Gardens Shop are also open daily. Before they left Japan, the artists made body frames of bamboo and straw matting and faces of a hand-painted composite. These elements were shipped to Longwood where they will be dressed in period clothing fashioned from live chrysanthemums to depict the gracefulness of 6 th -century Japanese court noblewomen, complete with kimono and obi made of flowers. The Japanese team will transform the stiff armatures into life-size dolls of living chrysanthemums. At the center of each frame will be a twisted mass of living chrysanthemum roots and stems, leaving only the flowers visible on the surface.