Inaugural Japanese Festival to take place in Leamington on Sunday

An exciting, creative and inspiring celebration of all things Japanese will take place in Leamington on Sunday (January 30).

The free festival, taking place at the Royal Pump Rooms from 11am to 5pm, will include a busy programme of activities for all the family.

There will be live performances throughout the day from, amongst others, Japanese drumming team Taiko West, Japanese contemporary theatre performer Fuyuko Morimura and J-pop sensation Mion.

Visitors will be able to have-a-go at traditional Japanese arts and crafts like Ikebana, Japanese flower arranging, Saori, which is a contemporary hand weaving method, Japanese Calligraphy and Origami.

Stalls will be selling glass, ceramics and milik jewellery made from antique kimonos and 15-year-old manga and anime artist Hugo’will showcase his new work.

There will also be a selection of freshly-made authentic food from vegan curries to tapas and sweet treats.

Nana’s Kitchen will serve up their wintry warm Japanese miso soups.

All can be washed down by shima, a sakè-based cocktail.

Milverton School children have also put together an exhibition of origami using recycled paper called Mottainai - which means reduce, reuse and recycle - for the festival with the help of the event's creative team.

The event has been organised by Milagros Kuga, a Japanese/Peruvian jewellery maker who lives in Leamington.

She said: ‘We’ve put together an amazing day of everything to do with Japanese culture.

"I wanted to share a little bit of the country I love with the community here in Leamington."

Carole Sleight, arts officer at Warwick District Council, added: "We are delighted that a new festival has been created which will bring exciting new cultural insights and activities for our community."

For more details about the event find @japanfestival.leamington on Facebook or Instagram or @JapaneseFestiv1 on Twitter.