Bon Voyage

The Bon Festival is a day for remembering the dead and marking their passage into the afterlife, or the Great Beyond, or wherever the hell it is they go. (Nobody knows.) In Japan, it’s a three-day holiday. Here in Florida, it’s a one-day event at the Morikami Museum and Japanese...

By Penn Bullock

August 7, 2008

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The Bon Festival is a day for remembering the dead and marking their passage into the afterlife, or the Great Beyond, or wherever the hell it is they go. (Nobody knows.) In Japan, it’s a three-day holiday. Here in Florida, it’s a one-day event at the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens (4000 Morikami Park Rd., Delray Beach).

Saturday, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., the Morikami’s world-famous gardens play host to a whirlwind of festivities. Taiko percussionists will bang on enormous drums and Japanese folk dancers will bust moves on the grass. The garden’s vast, tranquil pond will be covered with lanterns symbolizing the souls of the dead. Truly, the sea of lanterns is a sight for sore eyes. The evening finishes with a fireworks show. There will also be lots of scrumptious Asian food and sake, to boot.

Bring bug spray. Tickets cost $10 or less. For more info, call 561-495-0233, or visit www.morikami.org.
Sat., Aug. 9, 5 p.m., 2008

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