This past Thanksgiving weekend, San Antonio residents also gave thanks at a Japanese fall festival called Aki Matsuri.
Aki Matsuri, according to the San Antonio Current, is a fall festival where “folks give thanks for nature’s bounty (especially the rice harvest) and generally celebrate the season.” The San Antonio Aki Matsuri offers art, food, music, and calligraphy for the festival attendants.
San Antonio has hosted Aki Matsuri for the past seven years, according to the San Antonio Express-News. The Japan-America Society of San Antonio (JASSA) president, Nobuaki Yokoo, stated that in 2017, the one-day-only festival attracted about 3,000 attendants. This year’s festival featured a new “nighttime, adult-oriented event.” The newly-added event aimed to avoid having “too many people to provide enough seating for food and live music.”
The Witte Museum helped host this year’s Aki Matsuri. The San Antonio Express-News reports that JASSA plans to hold the festival at the Witte Museum again in 2019. Next year’s festival will mark three consecutive years of celebration at the Witte Museum. Those interested in attending the festival next year should keep in mind that this year’s tickets were limited and available only through pre-purchase on Eventbrite. This year, JASSA sold the Saturday night tickets for $45, the Sunday adult tickets for $12, and children tickets for $7. Children under 5 years of age enter the day-time festival for free.
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