Phoenix, Arizona - 30th Annual Matsuri Festival

The 30th Annual Japanese Matsuri Festival is held this weekend, February 22 and 23, 2014 in Heritage and Science Park in downtown Phoenix.  The admission is free and there is plenty to do and see (and spend money on).  I will need several posts to cover the festival because my camera was going constantly and there is a lot to share.

The first post is about the festival in general.  Heritage Square is a great place for festivals because it is easy to disburse a crowd on the streets in the area.  This photo was taken by the Rosson House.  The theme of this year's event was "Chochin" (lanterns).  You will notice them in a lot of the photos.

 Long beautiful lanterns decorated the covered pavilion.  Smaller ones were strung across the lower areas.  This makes me want to have colorful lanterns hanging outside in my "breezeway".

 This man was giving a demonstration on various fighting tools.

 His section had several warrior outfits on display.

 This booth showed some of the old items from Japan.  The shoes were interesting and did not look comfortable.

 Beautiful Japanese characters were on the paper banners.

 And the lanterns. This one reminded me of my travels to Japan.

 These looked like portable pagodas.

 There were a lot of food and drink booths and lines moved fairly fast.

 This food booth was named "Arizona Buddhist Temple".

 I saw this and it reminded me of the Sensoji Temple in Japan and the "Holy Smoke".  I walked over to see it and found a BBQ!  You can read the Holy Smoke post...click here.

 I saw this as I was leaving.  A group of teen boys had purchased swords.  Great!

Don't stop here. The fun is only beginning...see costumes and the Candy Man!

Guest Post - Photos from Moon Trip

Here are more photos taken at the Shoot The Moon adventure. The first one demonstrates painting with light. The shutter was open and a light on the cactus allowed him to get the image. The second one is simply a beautiful sunset.

Surprise, Arizona - Shoot The Moon

We met at the Denny's in Surprise, and then the group of 16 headed north for a dark spot in the desert on a night when the full moon was shining bright.



There was cloud cover so we had some time to play before we attached the cameras to the telescope.

So play we did, with light. The top photo are two light paintings that K made and I merged them together.  The second one is my fancy "L".

We took photos as the moon rose, often obscured by cloud cover.  Then the moon smiled upon us and we were able to take turns connecting to the telescope to take photos. I am thrilled!  This is out for print and I will get it tomorrow.

Phoenix, Arizona - French Grocery

The French Grocery has been open on 7th Avenue and Missouri Avenue since June, 2013. This is a large space that appears to me to lean towards Cajun French slightly. Be sure to get your King Cake in time for Mardi Gras celebrations.

Note to son: Pan Au Choc are bread-like.

Phoenix, Arizona - World Championship Hoop Dance

The 24th Annual World Championship Hoop Dance Competition was held this weekend at the Heard Museum.  Dancers are judged on five skills: precision, timing/rhythm, showmanship, creativeness and speed.  You can read more about the competition and the 2014 winners (click here).

I was able to take over 700 photos and have pared it down to a few for you to view. The contestants are in the Youth, Teen, Adult, and Senior divisions. This is a sampling of all.  I'm now a huge fan and can't wait until next year!

Phoenix, Arizona - Chinese New Year Festival

The 2014 Chinese New Year Festival was held in downtown Phoenix at the Margaret Hance Park.  Entrance to the event was free and there was a lot of activity.

A man was explaining how an abacus works. It was very interesting and is something that I have always wanted to know how to do.  The girls were getting his undivided attention.

 There were a lot of booths with stuff...

 And booths with things to do. This one had arts and crafts.

 Eventually the stage caught my eye and I wandered over to see what was going on.  I saw that a family was performing and while dad was on stage in costume and whirling a stick...

 The children were the funniest. One little boy was playing with the cymbals.

 ...while his older brother was wondering when this was all going to end.

 Soon a two man dragon took center stage and weaved and bobbed.  Every so often the front actor would raise the dragon head so that children could see and understand that this was just make believe.

 A woman sang an opera and played both the man and woman's part.

 A troupe of butterfly dancers fluttered around the stage and ended with a great photo op (minus the man's head!)

 Children were in costume.

 The organizer of the event spoke to the group and thanked everyone for making it a huge success.

 The local Tai Chi organization had a competition earlier in the day at the main branch of the Phoenix Public Library.  First, second and third place medals were given.  This woman was waving at someone in the audience.

 After the award ceremony, the group put on a Tai Chi demonstration.

There were a lot of food booths and plenty to do. It was a good festival.  Happy New Year!