Wonders Festival and Street Faire

The 207th Wonders Festival and Street Faire is sponsored by the city Guildhalls, the Hypatia Park Trustees, the Yousai Arts Council, the Buzoku Kyoju Koi Association {ichizoku clan house residency row}, and the Diamond Ward Partnership. The festival takes place during the last week of August, Monday through Sunday, annually to celebrate The Arts, and to support ethnic art and artisanal traditions from more than twenty cultures. Passion Avenue between the Theatre and Arts Byoto {wards} from Strada dei Mestieri {street of master craftsmen} to Atelier Boulevard is lined on both sides; leaving only two lanes in the middle of the avenue for pedestrian traffic and parades; with booths showcasing exhibits and goods from visual and performing arts, crafts, and cuisine. Here you may find a variety of crafters and their works from musical compositions, to illustrated fairytales, to period and ethnic costumes, to traditionally crafted instruments, to iconography, to quilts and rugs, to ethnic street food, to fine arts, to handcrafted jewelry, to buskers and troubadours. Momonoki Hiroba {peach tree square} holds the submissions for the festival's juried visual arts show competition, winners across several categories receive cash prizes (as high as twenty five thousand ryu) and inclusion in the Convergence Exhibition at the Bijutsukan Yousai {museum of art} in October. Shoji Entertainment and Paper Lantern Studios sponsor a writing contest, the winners - chosen during the festival - will have their words adapted to the screen and shown in the Wonders Short Film Showcase. These films, from previous, winners, run continuously through the festival at the Saracen Pavilion in The Rambles of Hypatia Park. The south lawn of Hypatia Park, from the entrance on Atelier Boulevard to The Rambles, is filled with tents, booths, grandstands, stages, lists, combat arenas, and outdoor dojo for competitions, workshops, performances, and demonstrations of skilled masters in many crafts from storytelling, to smithing, to weaving, to baking - don't miss the bubbly pies, to glassblowing, to period and culture authentic martial competitions. There will be Knightly Jousts and tourney games, cavalry manuevers, fencing (from sabre to mensur dueling, to kendo), Celtic Games (hurling, pipe bands, step dancing, caber toss, tug of war), combat Hopak, karate, wushu, grappling and other unarmed combat arts, sword dances, wild and urban parkour (through the park and city streets), Gladiatorial Games and Races, schutzhund trials, archery (foot and mounted), live Battle Chess, mock battles and more. Medals have been modelled and cast by Vulcan Josef of Dalia Nonpareil and produced by the Crown Mint, are awarded to the winners of all martial competitions in gold, silver, and bronze. There are also musical, theatrical, and dance performances, competitions, and showcases - everything from canine freestyle to quartets and symphonies, from folk to filk, from ballet to hula, from hip hop to cheer,  from puppetry to noh. Especially popular are the open participation amateur ballroom, salsa, country, group, and swing competitions, for both musicians and dancers. There will also be several auctions supporting charities and foundations such as the Imagination Library, the Idyllwild Arts Academy, Exploring the Arts, Art and Culture Heritage Foundation, Sekijujisha {the red cross}, the Performing Arts Community Council, and CHIRP (community heritage independent radio project). 


Demonstrator, Workshop, Performance, Vendor, Competitor, and Exhibitor application deadline is May 31
Parade Participation application deadline is August 10
Exhibitor and Vendor Booths begin at 1250 Ryu

Host hotels include Sadachiyo, the Crown Plaza Hotel, the Peachtree Plaza Hotel, Chaton Fidele, Knights Inn, Pagoda Towers, Grace Note Suites, and the Continental Marquis