Starting on October 22nd and running through October 31st, Yamagato Industries will be holding a fall matsuri in Yamagato Park. Details and schedule for this event are outlined below, including location changes to Yamagato Park that will be in effect until the end of the festivities.
Harvest Matsuri
Matsuri (lit. Festival) are annual Japanese celebrations that vary from city to city across Japan. To both celebrate the coming of autumn and boost morale in the Safe Zone, Yamagato Park will be ending its enhanced security screenings on October 22nd and opening its borders to Safe Zone residents without restriction from the 22nd through the 31st. During this time, the two main thoroughfares in Yamagato Park (Cropsey Ave and Bath Ave) will be transformed with the sights and sounds of a traditional Japanese matsuri.
Cropsey Ave will be closed to traffic from the 15th Ave intersection to the 18th Ave intersection and will feature open-air marketplaces and food vendors.
Bath Ave will likewise be closed to traffic from the 15th Ave intersection to the 18th Ave intersection and will be host to numerous parades, musical acts, and other entertainment on four stages and down the length of the street. Overflow market stalls, vendors, and performers will fill Bath Ave and the lengths of 15th through 18th ave that cut between Cropsey and Bath Ave, effectively creating an enormous parade grounds across 9 city blocks.
Admittance
Admittance to the Yamagato Park Harvest Matsuri is open to all Safe Zone residents (resident IDs will be checked at Yamagato Park checkpoints as normal). There will be no closure of the Yamagati Park checkpoints during the Matsuri. There is no charge to attend!
Matsuri Attire
Businesses within Yamagato Park encourage Safe Zone locals of any nationality to celebrate matsuri with traditional Japanese attire. Several clothing businesses located within Yamagato Park will be offering significant discounts to Safe Zone residents looking to purchase traditional matsuri attire. The weather forecast is cold for matsuri week, so be prepared to dress in layers and stay warm in the shops and cafes!
Charitable Food Donation
Yamagato Industries will be donating 6.8 million dollars worth of food to the New York City Safe Zone to offset the food shortages impacting the city. These donations will be given to the local Red Cross and dispersed to businesses, food pantries, and community centers across the Safe Zone. By Yamagato Industries estimates, this donation should allow the Safe Zone to remain self-sufficient throughout the winter until the completion of the Raytech/Yamagato Gardens project helps alleviate local produce burdens in 2019.
Calendar of Events
Below are the highlight events during the Yamagato Matsuri. Players are encouraged to submit their own events as +requests, which will be added to the event calendar!
Opening Night Fireworks (October 22)
Open Social +Event
Harvest Matsuri will commence with opening night fireworks starting at 7:00pm, launched from the water past Brighton Beach. The fireworks will be accompanied by a Mikoshi parade down Cropsey Ave, starting and ending at the Yamagato Inari-ji. Traditional Shinto music and dance performances will round out the night.
11/8 Memorial Ceremony (October 25)
Open Social +Event
A small memorial ceremony will be held at 5:48 pm (sunset) at the Yamagato Inari-ji in honor of those lost during the November 8th incidents. Attendees are encouraged to take one of the premade blank wooden plaques (ema) that will be available at the ceremony and write personalizes messages to lost loved ones. These ema will be left up at the shrine indefinitely.
Halloween Parade (October 31)
Yamagato Park will close the Harvest Matsuri with a costume parade at 7:00 pm that will circle Cropsey Ave and Bath Ave accompanied by live music. During and after the parade, Yamagato Park will host trick-or-treating at residences and businesses throughout the Matsuri grounds.
Matsuri Images
A visual index of Matsuri theme and flavor!
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