Thousands celebrate Japanese-Canadian culture at annual Powell Street Festival

Thousands travelled to Vancouver's Oppenheimer Park to celebrate Japanese-Canadian culture for the 49th annual Powell Street Festival.

Thousands of Vancouverites made their way to Oppenheimer Park and the surrounding neighbourhood Saturday for the first day of the 49th annual Powell Street Festival.

The nearly half-century-old tradition celebrates Japanese-Canadian culture and history in one of the places where it was born.

In 1877, the first Japanese immigrants to Canada settled in the vicinity of the former Hastings Mill in what is now Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

The area around Powell Street – or Paueru Gai – became the hub of a Japanese-Canadian community that numbered roughly 10,000 before their forced removal and internment during the Second World War.

While the neighbourhood is no longer largely Japanese, it remains a spiritual home of Japanese-Canadian culture, especially during the Powell Street Festival.

Taiko drumming, martial arts demonstrations, musical performances and a variety of food and craft vendors welcomed visitors to the area on Saturday.

Organizers estimate that more than 23,000 people will attend the event over the course of its two days.

The Powell Street Festival will continue from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.