World Music and Dance Festiva 2008 Hakodate, JAPAN

NEWS/TOPICS

NEWS LIST
September 1, 2008 4:05 PM

WMDF attended by 10,000 people!

Our first international festival was a success, with a combined audience of over ten thousand people attending the "free stage" events at Motomachi park, the special finale "Sunset Performance", the fringe"Folklore Performing Arts Summit", workshops of world folk arts, the panel exhibition, and other performances at numerous schools.

The success of this festival was due to the efforts of all the artists and to the hard work and determination of all the staff. We deeply appreciate their contributions, as well as the support that we received from our corporate and shimin sponsors.  

The performers from Indonesia returned to Indonesia on August 25th, and the performers from Korea, Taiwan, Niue, and Bulgaria departed on August 26th by bus, JR, and airplane.  We were all reluctant to say goodbye, but we hope to see each other again.

For two out of four days the "free stage" in Motomachi park was rained out, so on these days we relocated to the "Chiiki koryu machi zukuri center".  Even indoors, many people came to watch and we could see an impressive stage.  On August 22nd, about 2,000 people came to Motomachi Park, and could enjoy the atmospheric outdoor stage, with the famous Hakodate night view in one direction, and the floodlit Old Public Hall and Hakodate mountain in the other.

The final, indoor, Sunset Performance was attended by about 1,200 people. The lineup featured all the overseas performers who took part in our Festival, and there was a special atmosphere. We would have liked for all to see the celebrations that took place on the stage after the curtain closed.  All were celebrating together: there was a genuine feeling of unity among people from all around the world.

In addition to the main stages, the fringe events in the folklore performing arts summit were attended by about 300 people at each site. It was a good opportunity for WMDF event to spread its message around the whole city, and also for people to actually touch the traditional clothes and musical instruments from other countries in a more intimate environment.

Other events such as the workshops run with each group were well attended.  Especially, children came to the workshops in large numbers and took away unique experiences. The expressions on the faces of these children was a special reqard for the performers and organisers.

Through many other activites such as the panel exhibition, school visits, and tours and activities with the performers, we could spread the opportunity to broaden horizons and to enjoy folkloric performing arts.  Our goal was to bring the world to our small beautiful city and we have enjoyed producing our first success.

This festival was supported by far too many people for us to list here: we hope that all those who gave of their time and energy have been rewarded by new ideas, experiences, connections, and friendships.
 
The organising committee would like to express their sincere thanks to all those who became invloved, in however small a way.  Through the involvement of our friends and partners, we will strive to host a bigger and even more successful event next year!

World Music and Dance Festiva 2008 Hakodate, JAPAN

(c) 2008 Committee of the World Music and Dance Festival