2024 (Sold Out) Obon (お盆) / 2nd Japanese Bon Festival at Cranbrook #MIBON2024 (Bon Odori, Taiko, Music, Sushi, Tours..)NEW

Obon (お盆) / SECOND JAPANESE BON FESTIVAL AT CRANBROOK / #MIBON2024
Come as you are this summer or wear your favorite festive clothing, like a Japanese yukata kimono or happi jacket and join Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research and the members of the Great Lakes Taiko Center for the second Japanese Bon Festival at Cranbrook. Whether you call Japan or the United States home, whether you have participated in a traditional Japanese Bon Festival or not, all are welcome to join this community celebration of Japanese taiko drumming, music, song, and dance.

The Bon Festival, as described by Susan Osa, is an annual Japanese holiday (known as Obon in Japan) that commemorates and remembers deceased ancestors. It is believed that their spirits return to visit their living relatives in the summer months. Today, participants dance to express their joy to be living happily and to honor loved ones who have passed away. Central to its celebration among Japanese are the folk dances (Bon Odori) performed outdoors to music that includes the steady beat of a taiko (drum). The taiko sits on a raised platform, a yagura, and musicians use bachi, or drumsticks, on the taiko to keep time for the Bon Odori dancers. While associated with Buddhism, Obon has become a time of family reunion celebrated and embraced by all, regardless of one’s religious background.

Date
Sunday, August 11th, 2024

Time
1:00 pm - 5:30 pm

Location
Cranbrook Japanese Garden, 550 Lone Pine Road, Bloomfield Hills, MI 48304

Japanese Taiko Drumming and Bon Dance

Free Admission (Advance Registration Required)
#MIBON2024 is a Community Project presented by the Great Lakes Taiko Center and hosted by Cranbrook Center for Collections and Research. Additional cultural activities are provided by JACL Detroit (Japanese American Citizens League) and alumni of the Great Lakes JET Program (Japan Exchange and Teaching Program), along with botanical displays by Ikebana International Detroit (Detroit Chapter 85) and the Ann Arbor Bonsai Society. This MI Bon Summer Festival is made possible by Great Lakes Taiko Center volunteer members and supported by grants from the Taiko Community Alliance and the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan.

The 2024 Japanese Garden Tour Season and related cultural programming is sponsored, in part, by the Clannad Foundation and the Japan Business Society of Detroit.

Register Here

Festival Details

Bon Dance

The Japanese Bon Festival at Cranbrook takes place at the time of Obon in Japan, traditionally a four-day festival. This year, the festival will be celebrated in Japan from August 13 through August 16. The festival at Cranbrook will take place in a grassy meadow on the shores of Kingswood Lake, just south of the Cranbrook Japanese Garden, in the shade of two majestic red pine trees. The spirited energy of taiko drumming will lead into a presentation of festive Bon Odori songs during which the performers will provide the audience with brief instructions and encourage them to join the dances. The Japanese Garden will be open throughout the Bon Festival for exploration and informal tours, including a musical prelude and postlude before and after the activities in the open meadow. In case of rain, the celebration will move indoors to the Cranbrook Schools Performing Arts Center (PAC).

*To learn more about Obon and its evolution into Bon festivals in the United States, we suggest you read the article by Susan Osa written in 2006 for the Japanese American National Museum Store Online: "Gathering of Joy: A History of Japanese American Obon Festivals and Bon Odori."

Sunday Afternoon MI Bon Festival Program at Cranbrook

Parking: Parking for the Bon Festival will take place in the Cranbrook Schools Performing Arts Center (PAC) Parking Lot, located at 550 Lone Pine Road, at the northeast corner of Lone Pine and Vaughn Roads. A Cranbrook bus will take visitors to the Japanese Garden and the Bon Festival.

Program Schedule
1:00 pm: First Shuttle Bus Departs Cranbrook Schools PAC Parking Lot
1:00 - 6:00: Shuttle Bus Operates Continuously between PAC Parking Lot and Bon Festival
2:00 - 5:00: Cranbrook Japanese Garden Tours Ongoing during the Bon Festival
1:30 - 2:00: Prelude - Music in the Japanese Garden

Listen for a festive shinobue bamboo flute medley by Murasaki Shikibu ensemble

2:00 - 2:45: Japanese Taiko Drumming
Experience the energy and spirit of Taiko Drumming Performances by T3 Tanoshii Taiko Tai, A2 Taiko Players, Godaiko Drummers, and Raion Taiko; Featuring both contemporary and traditional pieces along with a North American debut presentation of the Minbu Japanese Folk Dance "Imabetsu Arama Odori" (Wild Horse Dance from Imabetsu, Aomori Prefecture, Japan)

3:00 - 3:45: Bon Odori (Japanese Festival Dance)
Enjoy the music and join the dances led by Murasaki Shikibu members, with bon dance songs including "Tanko Bushi" and "Tokyo Ondo" (Obon Festival Classics), "Ei Ja Nai Ka" (1997, PJ Hirabayashi, North American Taiko Conference), and MIBON's own "Michigan Ondo" (2021, Kyoko Johnson and Noriko Maidens, GLTC)

4:00 - 4:45: Japanese Taiko Drumming (Reprise)
Celebrate with Taiko Drumming Performances by T3 Tanoshii Taiko Tai, A2 Taiko Players, Godaiko Drummers, and Raion Taiko; featuring contemporary and traditional pieces and a presentation of the Minbu Japanese Folk Dance "Imabetsu Arama Odori" (Wild Horse Dance from Imabetsu, Aomori Prefecture, Japan)

5:00 - 5:30: Postlude - Music in the Japanese Garden
Hear the echoes of a Summer Song by members of the GLTC Taiko Arts Collective

6:00pm: Last Shuttle Bus Departs Bon Festival and Returns to PAC Parking Lot

Parking and Shuttle Bus Information
All parking for the Bon Festival will be at the Cranbrook Schools Performing Arts Center (PAC). The PAC Parking Lot is located at 550 Lone Pine Road, at the northeast corner of Lone Pine Road and Orchard Ridge Road, Bloomfield Hills. A shuttle bus will pick up visitors at the entrance to the Performing Arts Center (on the east side of the PAC Parking Lot) and run continuously between the PAC Parking Lot and the Bon Festival (adjacent to the Cranbrook Japanese Garden).

Restrooms
Restrooms are available in the Performing Arts Center Lobby. During the Bon Festival, additional restrooms will be available in a luxury restroom trailer adjacent to the Bon Festival meadow.

Food and Beverages and Seating
This year we are pleased to welcome Kabar Catering Sushi Truck, where visitors will have the opportunity to purchase delicious sushi rolls, pork belly sliders, poke bowls, beverages, and more! Visitors are also encouraged to bring their own folding chairs and picnic blankets to the festival; a limited supply of chairs and picnic tables will be provided by Cranbrook. Alcoholic beverages are not permitted at any time during the Bon Festival at Cranbrook.

Rain Plan
In case of rain or inclement weather, the Bon Festival will take place indoors, in the PAC. Parking will remain in the PAC Parking Lot. In case of rain, tours will not be available of the Cranbrook Japanese Garden.