Buddhist Temple of San Diego Bon Odori 2026

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Buddhist Temple of San Diego Bon Odori 2026

Name: Buddhist Temple of San Diego Bon Odori 2026
Start: 2026-08-01T15:00:00-07:00
End: 2026-08-01T19:00:00-07:00
Location: Buddhist Temple of San Diego, 2929 Market St, San Diego, CA 92102

Going? You can check in after it ends.

Saturday, August 1, 2026

3:00 PM PDT – 7:00 PM PDT

Buddhist Temple of San Diego, 2929 Market St, San Diego, CA 92102

“The drum circle starts before the dancing. The Buddhist Temple…”

— @falkorcommunity

Tickets & More Info

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Orange County Buddhist Church Obon Festival 2026

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Venice Buddhist Temple Obon Festival 2026

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West Los Angeles Buddhist Temple Obon Festival 2026

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About

Obon is a Buddhist tradition of remembering ancestors that has been practiced in Japan for over 500 years. In San Diego, the Buddhist Temple on Market Street has been holding its Bon Odori every summer for decades the way it was always meant to be held: outside, with taiko drumming, folk dancing that anyone can join, and food made by people who have been making it the same way since the event started.

The dancing is called bon odori, and the circle is open. You do not need to know the steps before you arrive. You learn by watching and then joining. The music is live taiko and traditional Japanese melody. The food booths sell teriyaki, somen noodles, andagi, and shave ice. The festival is free.

This is not a public-facing tourism event. It is the Japanese American community of San Diego doing what it has always done in August. That is exactly what makes it worth finding.

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Los Angeles Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple Obon Festival 2026

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Los Angeles Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple Obon Festival 2026

Jul 8 – Jul 9, 2026 815 E 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA …

Every summer, Little Tokyo comes back to life in the old way. The Los Angeles Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple Obon Festival runs July 8–9, 2026 at 815 East 1st Street — the ground floor of Little Tokyo, blocks from the Japanese Village Plaza, right at the center of the neighborhood's oldest streets. The temple has been marking Obon here for generations. The festival runs both days from 2:00 PM to 10:00 PM (Saturday) and 2:00 PM to 8:30 PM (Sunday). Obon is a Buddhist observance of the dead — the tradition is to dance so the ancestors can find their way home. The odori circle forms around a yagura drum tower. Paper lanterns go up. The taiko anchors everything. It is one of the most Japanese-American things you can do in Los Angeles on a summer night. Outside the odori, there's food, games, and the particular warmth of a temple courtyard during the one week of year when the whole community shows up. Families who haven't seen each other since last Obon. Kids who have never done the dance before getting folded into the circle. The kind of evening that doesn't happen anywhere else in the city. Free admission. July 8–9, 2026 at the Los Angeles Hompa Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, 815 E 1st Street, Los Angeles, CA 90012.

Orange County Buddhist Church Obon Festival 2026

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Orange County Buddhist Church Obon Festival 2026

Jul 18, 2026 ✨ New Western High School, 501 S Western…

The Obon festival at Orange County Buddhist Church in Anaheim is one of the most community-rooted summer events in the OC Japanese American calendar. Two days of taiko drumming, bon odori dancing, and food that exists nowhere else on a menu: chicken teriyaki, somen, andagi, shave ice, and mochi. Bon odori is the circle dance that anchors every Obon festival. It originated as a ritual to welcome ancestral spirits during the harvest season. In Anaheim in July, it is also just a beautiful thing to watch and, when you are ready, to join. The circle is always open. July 18 and 19 at the temple grounds. Free admission. The kind of event that the people who know about it have been going to for twenty years.

Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple Obon Festival 2026

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Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple Obon Festival 2026

Jul 18, 2026 ✨ New Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, …

The Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple has been in Culver City (despite the Venice name) since the community relocated after the internment. The Obon festival it runs every summer is a direct continuation of a tradition that survived displacement. July 18 and 19. Chicken teriyaki, udon, andagi, sushi, shave ice, carnival games, silent auction. Bon odori dancing in the evening. Free to attend. The temple community runs it the way temple communities run Obon: with the assumption that the people who know about it will come, and that the people who stumble in are welcome. 12371 Braddock Dr, Culver City. A 20-minute drive from Venice Beach. Same weekend as the OC and WLA Obon festivals for people doing the full circuit.

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Orange County Buddhist Church Obon Festival 2026

Jul 18 – Jul 19, 2026 Orange County Buddhist Church, 909…

The Orange County Buddhist Church hosts its annual Obon Festival on July 18–19, 2026 in Anaheim, carrying forward a tradition of community, remembrance, and celebration that has been part of Japanese American life in Orange County for decades. Obon is observed across Japan in midsummer as a time to honor ancestors and welcome their spirits home. In Japanese American communities, it evolved into one of the warmest community gatherings of the year — part cultural festival, part neighborhood reunion, part street fair with specifically Japanese food. Bon Odori dancing begins at dusk each evening and continues until closing. The circle of dancers grows as the night progresses — first the practiced dancers who know every song, then visitors who follow along and pick up the steps as the music repeats. The experience is deeply inclusive. Wearing a yukata is encouraged but never required. Food booths open in the afternoon and run until sellout — look for yakisoba, chicken teriyaki, spam musubi, shave ice, and mochi ice cream. The game booths are run by temple youth groups, and the energy around the yagura drum tower as the Taiko performers warm up is unlike anything else in Southern California's summer event calendar.

Venice Buddhist Temple Obon Festival 2026

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Venice Buddhist Temple Obon Festival 2026

Jul 18 – Jul 19, 2026 Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, …

The Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple Obon Festival takes place July 18–19, 2026 in Venice, California — one of the most atmospheric Obon settings in Southern California, held in the heart of a neighborhood with deep Japanese American history. Venice's Obon has a particular character shaped by its Westside location and the demographic mix of the surrounding community. The Bon Odori dancing draws long-time temple families alongside newer community members and curious visitors from across Los Angeles. The dances are taught informally — you can join at any point, follow the person in front of you, and find yourself fully inside the tradition within two songs. The festival spans two evenings. Traditional Bon Odori circles form around the yagura as dusk falls, accompanied by live Taiko drumming and recorded Obon music. Food booths run the full gamut of Japanese American festival cuisine: fresh grilled chicken, soba noodles, teriyaki, shave ice with azuki beans, and seasonal mochi. Venice Hongwanji is located near Lincoln Blvd in Venice. Street parking in the surrounding neighborhood. The festival is free; food and booths are individually priced. Yukata rentals and lessons are sometimes available at the temple for first-time visitors who want to participate in the dancing fully dressed.

West Los Angeles Buddhist Temple Obon Festival 2026

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West Los Angeles Buddhist Temple Obon Festival 2026

Jul 25, 2026 ✨ New West Los Angeles Buddhist Temple, …

Sawtelle Japantown is one of the oldest Japanese American neighborhoods in Los Angeles. The West Los Angeles Buddhist Temple has been at the center of that community since its founding, and the Obon festival it runs every July is the neighborhood at its most itself. Bon odori on the temple grounds, taiko performances, Japanese food from the community booths. The circle is open to anyone. The festival is free. The Sawtelle corridor outside turns into something that does not exist in the same form anywhere else in the city on these two days. July 25 and 26 at 2003 Corinth Ave, West Los Angeles. The temple is walkable from Sawtelle Blvd and its ramen and Japanese grocery stores. Come early for the food lines.

Gardena Valley Buddhist Church Obon Festival 2026

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49 days away

Gardena Valley Buddhist Church Obon Festival 2026

Aug 1 – Aug 2, 2026 Gardena Valley Buddhist Church, 15…

The Gardena Valley Buddhist Church Obon Festival runs August 1–2, 2026, one of the final Obon celebrations of the Southern California summer season. Gardena's Japanese American community is one of the densest in the United States, and the Obon here reflects generations of cultural continuity in one of the most stable Japanese American neighborhoods in California. The Gardena Obon is known for exceptional food — the temple's volunteer crews have been making these dishes for years, and the teriyaki chicken, yakisoba, mochi, and shave ice have a following that draws people from across the South Bay and beyond. The food lines start before the Bon Odori, and some booths sell out before the final evening. Bon Odori dancing circles the yagura each evening as darkness falls. Live Taiko drumming opens the dancing, transitioning into the traditional recorded Obon songs that every seasoned dancer knows by heart. First-timers are welcomed and the dances repeat, making it easy to learn as you go. The Gardena Valley Buddhist Church is located at 1517 W 166th St in Gardena, a short drive from the 405 freeway. Parking on-site and in surrounding streets. No admission charge. Children's games, craft tables, and a plant sale typically run alongside the main festival. The atmosphere is a neighborhood block party with Buddhist roots — warm, multigenerational, and genuinely communal.

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Orange County Buddhist Church Obon Festival 2026

Venice Buddhist Temple Obon Festival 2026

West Los Angeles Buddhist Temple Obon Festival 2026

Gardena Valley Buddhist Church Obon Festival 2026

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