Urban Life

MATSURI... DOWNTOWN PHOENIX HOSTS A JAPANESE FESTIVAL 2009

Downtown Phoenix will be the place to be this weekend, February 21st and 22nd, for Matsuri, A Festival of Japan.  This will be the 25th anniversary celebration and filled with lots of fun activities.

I lived with a Japanese family during my days at UCSB. Ken Ota was my judo and aikido sensei and living with  his family was quite an experience. The respect and integrity of their culture deeply affected me in a wonderful way.

The festival is jammed packed with activities the entire family will enjoy including: Taiko drumming, Kendo karate demonstrations, Japanese Lion Dance, native folk dancing, a Kimono fashion show and much more. A complete schedule of events is posted on the organizer's web site.

One of the best features of this kid friendly event is the price... its free. Just come down to the Heritage & Science Park and enjoy Matsuri.

If you are traveling by Light Rail its just a short walk from the 3rd St. & Washington stop. Check out RailLife.com for maps and rail info.

Enjoy...

Gene Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
602-234-5777

The Matsuri poster to the right was designed by Phoenix artist Brian Fisher and generously provided by tireless Matsuri web developer and general get-it-done person, Penny Levy.

A LOOK AT VIA COLORI SCOTTSDALE ARIZONA

This past weekend Scottsdale hosted its first Via Colori street painting festival. I have attended the nation's biggest street painting festival  held in Santa Barbara, CA and was glad to hear Scottsdale was hosting a similar event.

First, I have to say it was not to the scale or excellence of the Santa Barbara event; That is by design. Via Colori does not award prizes for best of show and such. It uses the art as a backdrop for a weekend of celebration and fund raising. Unlike the Santa Barbara event, Via Colori shows off mostly local talent... although they did bring in one international pro, Melanie Stimmell,  whose work is pretty incredible.

I've put together a quick video of the event and hope you get a sense of the fun. Perhaps you keep an eye out next year when the Second Annual Via Colori in Scottsdale will happen.

I do have to say that downtown Phoenix is missing the boat here. A street paining festival at St. Francis would be amazing and be in line with the original street painting festivals of the 16th century that were held on the courtyards of great Italian Cathedrals. Just an idea for the Phoenix Arts Counsel to consider.

Gene Urban
The Urban Team at Realty Executives
602-234-5777