Obon Festival

We have exciting news and an important update about our Obon Summer Festival!

🎋Our Obon Summer Festival is Sold Out!

We’re thrilled to announce that our Obon Summer Festival has officially sold out! We’re so grateful for the overwhelming support from our community and can’t wait to welcome everyone who secured tickets for a day of remembrance and celebration.

🏮Didn’t Get Tickets? Join Us for Other Special Events!

If you weren’t able to get tickets to the festival, don’t worry—you can still participate in our other Obon observances! We invite you to join us for:

Lantern Song Workshop: This Friday, July 11 at 1 PM ET. Please join us at our FREE workshop, which will include a showing of the official Lantern Song music video, crafts, and a live tutorial of our Bon odori choreography.

🕯️Hatsubon Service: On Sunday at 11 AM, join us for a special service commemorating those who have passed away in the last year.

Upcoming Buddhist Education Seminar

Mark your calendars! We’re also hosting a hybrid Buddhist Education seminar on Wednesday August 6 at 7 PM entitled The Many Faces of Buddhism. This seminar offers a wonderful opportunity to deepen your understanding of Buddhist teachings.

Thank you for your incredible support! We look forward to seeing you soon.

*Obon Japanese Festival, Ekoji Buddhist Temple*

WHEN: Saturday, July 12, 2025, 5 pm to 9 pm

Come for our Japanese “Bon” dancing, Nen Daiko performance, and delicious foods, desserts, vendors, and children’s activities. Stay for the evening memorial ceremony where we fill our beautiful Japanese garden with hundreds of candles representing our departed loved ones. This moving tribute is a fitting way to end the day spent with friends, families and neighbors.

LOCATION: Ekoji Buddhist Temple 6500 Lakehaven Lane, Fairfax Station, Virginia 22039

TICKETS: $6 p/person, SOLD OUT. Children 2 and under are free. Limited ticket quantities available DUE TO COUNTY REGULATIONS.

Please note: No tickets will be sold at the gate this year.

The gates to the festival will open at 5 p.m. ET and the event will be held rain or shine. No tents or pets allowed. You may bring folding chairs and blankets. Ekoji is a smoke-free campus.

Your e-receipt is your ticket so proceed to the pre-order ticket line when you arrive. Tickets are non-transferable and may not be resold. No refunds are available.

CANDLES: $5 each, sold online and at the festival, and will be placed in the garden for our evening ceremony.

Tentative Event Schedule

5:00 Gates Open

5:15 Opening Ceremony

5:30 Demonstration service

5:45 – 6:30 Bon Odori (first half)

6:35 – 6:55 Mark H Taiko Xperience

7:00 – 7:10 Dounen

7:15 – 7:55 Nen Daiko

7:55 – 8:35 Bon Odori (second half)

8:45-9:00 Candlelight service

9:00 Festival ends

In between events, enjoy the children and teen game and activities, temple tours and presentations, specialty food, desserts, beverages, vendor and artisan booths.

Obon is our annual summer Japanese cultural festival. We come together to eat, dance, and laugh as a community. Join us for delicious food and desserts, vendors, traditional Japanese folk dancing, kids’ games and activities, Nen Daiko, and our youth taiko group, Dounen Daiko, temple tours, evening candle ceremony where we remember and thank those who have come before us.

Activities

We’ll have themed games and activities for children including an airplane toss, mini golf, fishing, and reflex challenge. Everyone is invited to take a temple tour and participate in the meditation session inside the main building.

Vendors

Japan Rail Modelers, Urban Sheek, Delana’s Massage, Kniteracy, Vivian’s Kimono & Wafucu Accessories, Suzuki Farms, Harmonious Kitchen, HanaCon Anime, Ujamaa Seeds and more!

Public Parking

Free parking is available for the event on a first-come, first-served basis at the Fairfax Baptist Church and the Accotink Unitarian Church, conveniently located just a short walk away. To help us maximize space, we encourage carpooling whenever possible. Volunteers will be there to guide you – please follow their friendly directions to find your spot!

Directions: Ekoji is located at 6500 Lakehaven Lane in Fairfax Station, Virginia. Take Fairfax County Parkway to Burke Lake Road.

Volunteer

Ready to make a difference and have some fun? Check out the volunteer spots and sign up here – we’d love to have you!

Calling all students! This is a fantastic way to earn service hours.

Got questions? Reach out to our awesome volunteer coordinator, Andrea, via email.

Big thanks in advance for your help! And guess what? As a little thank you, all volunteers get FREE admission to the event!

Calling all bakers, confectioners, and patissiers!
We are looking for volunteers to create desserts that showcase their cultural background that will be sold at Obon in an ‘International Food Hall’ section. Highlight the diversity of the Sangha and share some of your favorites. Volunteers are asked to produce 25+ portions of their dessert. Sign up at https://tinyurl.com/4tsm2hvp.

Mini Sponsorship

We are excited to invite our sangha, both near and far, to help support our Obon festival this year! Every item or good you sponsor within the respective categories of administration, tents and games, food and grounds will help defray our costs and raise more for the temple.

$25 will help us buy prizes and materials for our game booths…
$50 will help us defray the trailer rental, signage and more…
$100 will help us buy rice, beverages, ice, packaging and other foodstuffs…
$150 will help us fund the police, crossing guards, increased utility bills, marketing and more…

All “mini sponsors” will be recognized on our event page and weekly email. We appreciate you and thank you for your support!

THANK YOU to Andrea Walter, Andrew Beachy, Mark Rooney, Taeko Buck, Ken and Nori Nakamura, Donna Omata, Gail and Norman Kondo, Joe Crilley, Bob Matsueda, Jerry Rankin, Joe Gotchy, Nancy Motonaga, Shirley Bertoni, Carolyn Seeger (in loving memory of Kenryu and Sakaye Tsuji), and Christine Baldridge, Trelaine Ito, Jesse Barrick, Joran Stegner, Emily Ihara, Diana Nguyen, Kenneth Ikeda, Dana Fager, Margaret Cummisky, Annemarie Russell, Brian Nagata, Ngocyen Vu, Laverne Imori, Jane Blechman and Carla Brown for being amongst the first to become MINI sponsors for Obon 2025! Your early support means so much to us!

Corporate Sponsors

We warmly welcome monetary sponsorships at the following levels: $250, $500, $1000. Your business logo will be prominently featured on the Ekoji Obon Festival website (with permission). Corporate sponsorship opportunities are available here. Our gratitude to Independence Landscape and BDK America for their generous support of Obon 2023 and 2024!

$250 | $500 | $1,000 – All tax-deductible with a donation letter provided.