Little Tokyo Tanabata Festival 2026

The Tanabata Festival at Little Tokyo in Los Angeles celebrates the Japanese star festival — one of the five classical festivals of the Japanese calendar — with the traditional decoration of bamboo branches with colorful paper wishes (tanzaku) and a cultural program that brings the Little Tokyo community together each July.

Tanabata (the Star Festival) marks the annual meeting of two stars in the night sky, Vega and Altair, which in Japanese mythology represent the lovers Orihime and Hikoboshi separated by the Milky Way. The festival tradition involves writing wishes on paper strips and hanging them on bamboo branches — a practice that Little Tokyo's Japanese American community has observed since the neighborhood's earliest days.

The Little Tokyo Tanabata Festival features the bamboo decoration of the neighborhood's main streets and plazas, traditional music and dance performances, cultural activities, and the community gathering that defines Little Tokyo's role as the cultural center of Japanese American life in Southern California.

Little Tokyo is located in downtown Los Angeles near 1st Street between San Pedro and Alameda, accessible via Metro Gold Line (Little Tokyo/Arts District Station). The festival is free to attend. July is typically warm in downtown LA — the evening programming after sunset is the most pleasant time to visit.