📍Sandy Hill Community Centre and adjoining Annie Pootoogook Park
The Matsuri will take place both indoors and outdoors, and will feature a wide range of Japanese cultural and martial arts performances,
as well as a humongous selection of Japanese products and food vendors!
A full listing of vendors will be published later, alongside the day’s performance schedule, which includes crowd-pleasing favourites like Taiko and another splendid Yukata Fashion show.
Plenty of drinks and water will be available for sale from the OJCA and many other vendors, but please be sure to bring your own water and sunscreen!
The event will take place rain or shine, but inclement weather will move the event completely indoors.
We are seeking volunteers for the 2026 Natsu Matsuri, Saturday, July 4, from 11 am – 4 pm at Annie Pootoogook Park/Sandy Hill C.C.
Japanese food, crafts, performers, and vendors are all on the program!
We need volunteers for a variety of tasks. If you can spare 2 or more hours on July 4 between 9 am and 5:30 pm, please contribute to the continued success of this beloved festival by volunteering.
We really appreciate your help!
If interested, please complete our Volunteer Sign Up
June Takahashi (nee Hayami) passed away peacefully on May 2, 2026, 92 years old. Born in Vancouver, she and her family were interned during the Second World War before resettling in Farnham, Quebec. That experience shaped a lifetime of advocacy: June went on to work with the National Association of Japanese Canadians on the Redress program, helping secure recognition and compensation for the human rights violations inflicted upon Japanese Canadians. June was at the heart of the effort to find and acknowledge Japanese Canadians who were denied their rights for a decade, forced from their homes and businesses, interned and then deported after WWll; actions fuelled by racism. Working with the community and the Redress Secretariat, her gentle humanity ensured that Redress was offered to over 24,000 survivors in Canada and in Japan. Her contributions were honoured with the Ambassador’s Award, conferred by His Excellency Kanji Yamanouchi.
Gregarious and outgoing, June lived fully — in Montréal, Toronto, Baden-Soellingen, and Ottawa, and on her travels around the world. A martial artist of the highest order, she earned a seventh-degree black belt in Judo and co-founded Takahashi Dojo in Ottawa in 1969, nurturing generations of judoka.
She was the beloved wife of Masao James Takahashi (1929–2020), and is survived by her brothers George and Hiro; her children Allyn, Ray, and Tina; her grandchildren Christy, Jenny, Emi, Mariko, Steven, Adam, Torin, and Liam; and great-grandchildren Alice, Philly, Lily, Kato, Miya, Talula, and Tomio. She was predeceased by her son Phil (2020).
A celebration of life will be held in the near future.
Minyo-Kai is a traditional Japanese folk-dance group that performs occasionally at local community events. They meet twice per month on Sundays from 2 pm at the Takahashi Dojo (5 Melrose Avenue).
They will be selling the following items at the Bazaar:
Assorted Baked Goods
Melon Pan