For the first time in its 44-year history, the Japanese Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden has been cancelled. The announcement comes in the wake of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has postponed, cancelled or shuttered most of the St. Louis region’s biggest public gatherings.
The Missouri Botanical Garden is home to one of the largest Japanese gardens in North America and has hosted the annual Japanese Festival during the Labor Day weekend since 1977.
While the typical festival will not be held this year, the Garden will still host some special activities on Labor Day Weekend, Sept. 5 to 7, as well as offer extended hours throughout the weekend.
The private Teahouse Island of the Japanese Garden will be open for guided public tours during the holiday weekend. Normally closed to the public, visitors can see the Garden’s soan, the farm hut-style teahouse, which was a gift from Missouri’s sister state of Nagano prefecture in Japan. Visitors can also see a snow-viewing lantern, yukimi-doro, a gift from St. Louis’ sister city of Suwa, Japan.
On Saturday, Sept. 6, and Sunday Sept. 7, the Garden will offer evening Candlelight Walks and Toro Nagashi, a lantern ceremony held in partnership with the St. Louis-Suwa Sister Cities Committee.
Tickets for the Labor Day weekend events will be available online in mid-August. Reservations and tickets are required for special activities over the holiday weekend, as well as for regular Garden admission. For additional information, including COVID-19 guidelines, visit mobot.org.
