Canberra Nara Candle Festival 2007
2000 candles were lit by 100 volunteers
Clear, calm weather encouraged big crowds at this years Canberra-Nara Candle Festival with over 7000 people coming to Nara Park in Lennox Gardens to participate in the festival. From the moment the first stalls began to open, festival goers cued up to get a taste of Japan. Quite literally infact, most stalls providing food were unable to satisfy demand.
Crowds numbered more 7000 for the day. Here they are waiting for the demonstration by Taikoz and Riley Lee
The AJS's decision to make yakisoba and sell traditional Japanese snacks was met with great success, but supply could not cope with demand. The lasted the day but were quickly bought up by a hungry Japanese diplomatic community.
Left: Sue Gardiner and Saori Ichihara do their best to satisfy demand - Right: Ikeda Sensei and Heima Miyake-Dalrymple working the barbeque
Next year, the 15th anniversary of Nara Park, is expected to be even bigger, and the Australia Japan Socity wont be the only festival participants looking for ways to handle Canberra's ever increasing appetite for a fun day out. So far, the committee has proposed more candles, more food and bottled water, and more efficient setups like electrical installation and food stalls.