News

One-day Manchester Japan Festival planned for November

A new Japanese festival, called Doki-Doki, is being planned for November 13th in Manchester. The festival's website is here and it has a facebook page here.

From the website:

Doki Doki - The Manchester Japanese Festival is the first event of its kind in Manchester to celebrate not only Anime and Manga but also Japanese culture. This event will be running every 2 years, alternating with Japan Society North West's Japan Day. The Daytime event will run from 9am–7pm and the Evening event will run from 9pm–4am. We have no age limit at our convention [for the Daytime Event], but anyone under the age of 12 must be accompanied by a paying parent or guardian – the child will get in for free.

An announcment sent to press outlets added:

Throughout the day, there will be talks, demonstrations and parades showcasing manga, anime, fashion, martial arts and other arts from Japan's past, as well as retail stalls, artist stands, a cinema room and games area. Hot and cold Japanese food from a number of local retailers will also be available to festival goers.

The event will be taking place in PURE nightclub, situated in the well known Printworks shopping/leisure complex near Manchester Victoria Station. Pure is a large venue spread over a number of well connected and conveniently sized rooms and even after allowing space for stall holders and events, there will be capacity for 1,000.

There will be a traditional Japanese food area with Sushi, Bento Boxes and rice dishes alongside Japanese cakes and tea. The bar will be open all day for soft drinks.

Daytime tickets for the event come in three types. Early bird tickets, allowing entry at 9am and a goodie bag, are £15; normal tickets bought on the day are £14 (entry after 10am) after £15; and tickets bought in advance are £10. (As mentioned above, under-12s with parents get in free.)

The evening events are restricted to over-18s, and cost £2 or £4 (see here.) They cannot be bought in advance.