Downtown Denver's historic Sakura Square became a vibrant downtown destination to celebrate and engage in Japanese arts and culture for three hours on October 13th, 2018 from 6PM - 9PM. We gained permission through partnership with Sakura Square to activate multiple spaces, both indoor and outdoor, throughout the square with activity including the plaza in front of Tamai Towers and adjacent sidewalks, the Pacific Mercantile parking lot, and the empty retail space at the corner of the building connected to Tamai Towers.

 

Over 300 attendees partook in this event throughout the night, which successfully brought attention to a typically quiet downtown block. With a strong focus on building an inclusive and intergenertional space to celebrate Japanese artists and culture, we were able to reach diverse and unexpected audiences who we do not typically see at Japanese cultural events that occur in Colorado and the Denver area. We met one of our ultimate goals, to bring focus back to Sakura Square as a hearthstone for Japanese culture in Colorado- especially as Sakura Square LLC, the Sakura Foundation, and the Tri-State Denver Buddhist Temples work towards a potential re-development of the square city block.