Jun 27,2026
San Fernando Valley Obon Festival 2026
Three generations of one family do the same steps in the same parking lot, and the youngest learned them by watching the oldest. Paper lanterns overhead, taiko shaking the warm air, and a dance circle that opens for anyone who wanders close — nobody teaches the bon odori here. You fall in, and within twenty minutes your feet know it.
Obon honors the dead, which is why the evening manages to be celebratory and reverent at once in a way no other summer fair pulls off. The food is the other reason people plan around it: yakisoba, teriyaki, shave ice, mochi. A flea market runs alongside the cultural exhibits and games, and the live taiko lands somewhere in your chest.
Free at the Japanese American Community Center on Branford Street in Pacoima, both evenings from late afternoon until close.
Come at dusk. Bring a blanket, and bring the kid who has never seen your family dance.
Three generations of one family do the same steps in the same parking lot, and the youngest learned them by watching the oldest. Paper lanterns overhead, taiko shaking the warm air, and a dance circle that opens for anyone who wanders close — nobody teaches the bon odori here. You fall in, and within twenty minutes your feet know it.
Obon honors the dead, which is why the evening manages to be celebratory and reverent at once in a way no other summer fair pulls off. The food is the other reason people plan around it: yakisoba, teriyaki, shave ice, mochi. A flea market runs alongside the cultural exhibits and games, and the live taiko lands somewhere in your chest.
Free at the Japanese American Community Center on Branford Street in Pacoima, both evenings from late afternoon until close.
Come at dusk. Bring a blanket, and bring the kid who has never seen your family dance.
Obon honors the dead, which is why the evening manages to be celebratory and reverent at once in a way no other summer fair pulls off. The food is the other reason people plan around it: yakisoba, teriyaki, shave ice, mochi. A flea market runs alongside the cultural exhibits and games, and the live taiko lands somewhere in your chest.
Free at the Japanese American Community Center on Branford Street in Pacoima, both evenings from late afternoon until close.
Come at dusk. Bring a blanket, and bring the kid who has never seen your family dance.
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San Fernando Valley Obon Festival 2026
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Taiko drums shaking the warm air and three generations of families doing the same dances in a parking lot. That is the whole thing. That is enough.
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Sat, Jun 27 – Sun, Jun 28, 2026
Sat 9:30 AM PDT – Sun 2:00 PM PDT
Free
“Taiko drums shaking the warm air and three generations of…”
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Three generations of one family do the same steps in the same parking lot, and the youngest learned them by watching the oldest. Paper lanterns overhead, taiko shaking the warm air, and a dance circle that opens for anyone who wanders close — nobody teaches the bon odori here. You fall in, and within twenty minutes your feet know it.
Obon honors the dead, which is why the evening manages to be celebratory and reverent at once in a way no other summer fair pulls off. The food is the other reason people plan around it: yakisoba, teriyaki, shave ice, mochi. A flea market runs alongside the cultural exhibits and games, and the live taiko lands somewhere in your chest.
Free at the Japanese American Community Center on Branford Street in Pacoima, both evenings from late afternoon until close.
Come at dusk. Bring a blanket, and bring the kid who has never seen your family dance.
Obon honors the dead, which is why the evening manages to be celebratory and reverent at once in a way no other summer fair pulls off. The food is the other reason people plan around it: yakisoba, teriyaki, shave ice, mochi. A flea market runs alongside the cultural exhibits and games, and the live taiko lands somewhere in your chest.
Free at the Japanese American Community Center on Branford Street in Pacoima, both evenings from late afternoon until close.
Come at dusk. Bring a blanket, and bring the kid who has never seen your family dance.
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