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VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Falkor//Falkor Events//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
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DTSTART:20260808T180000Z
DTEND:20260810T003000Z
SUMMARY:Toro Nagashi Festival 2026 — Japanese Friendship Garden
DESCRIPTION:Each summer\, the Japanese Friendship Garden in Balboa Park holds Toro Nagashi — one of the most quietly moving ceremonies in all of San Diego. Toro Nagashi is a Buddhist tradition in which paper lanterns are floated on water to guide the spirits of ancestors who have passed. In Japan it marks the close of the Obon season\; here in Balboa Park\, it has become something more: a shared civic ritual that draws thousands of San Diegans — of every background — into one of the garden's most intimate spaces.\n\nThe 2026 Toro Nagashi Festival takes place August 8–9\, 2026\, at the Japanese Friendship Garden of San Diego. Lanterns are available for presale starting in May. Beyond the lantern ceremony itself\, the festival fills both days with taiko drumming performances\, traditional Obon folk dancing\, cultural presentations\, Japanese food vendors (yakitori\, mochi\, shave ice\, sake garden for adults)\, and a curated marketplace of Japanese crafts and artisans. Admission to the festival is included with standard garden admission.\n\nThe Japanese Friendship Garden sits in the heart of Balboa Park near the Prado — easily accessible via the free Balboa Park Tram. Metered parking is available throughout the park\, with the closest lots off Park Boulevard and Pan American Road. This event has none of the commercial scaffolding of a typical festival: no branded stages\, no VIP sections\, no DJ sets. It is a ceremony that happens to be open to the public — and the crowd that shows up for it is the kind of crowd that makes a city feel like a real place.
LOCATION:Japanese Friendship Garden of San Diego\, 2215 Pan American Rd E\, San Diego\, CA 92101
URL:https://www.falkorevents.com/eventcal/event/5724/details/
UID:event-5724@falkorevents.com
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