Schedule of Events

Printable Festival Schedule of Events

Commemorative Festival Program

During each day of the festival, visitors celebrated with performers, docents, speakers, demonstrators, vendors, and many others who enjoyed the legacy of the Japanese American experience for the past 150 years.  Around mid-day each day, festival-goers were treated to the world premiere live action play telling the Wakamatsu Colony story from Japan to America, 1869 to 1871.

Generally, each festival day centered on the following topics with some overlap each day:

Thursday, June 6 – Kids Explore Japanese Culture
Friday, June 7 – Japanese Tea Culture
Saturday, June 8 – THE BIG DAY* – Wakamatsu History
Sunday, June 9 – Wakamatsu Authors

Kids activities, tea, history, authors, food, and vendors were available each festival day.

IMPORTANT PARKING INFO

*The Wakamatsu Colonists arrived at the Farm on June 8, 1869.  Saturday, June 8, 2019 is exactly 150 later and the grandest day of WakamatsuFest150.

Want to visit the farm before the festival?
website: www.ARConservancy.org/wakamatsu
email: [email protected]
phone: 530-621-1224

Visiting During WakamatsuFest150

Click here for the Commemorative Festival Program.

The site is an historic farm.  Dress and plan for rugged outdoor leisure enjoying unpaved trails and straw bale seating.  The Farm offers miles of beautiful open spaces to walk and explore.  Some areas are off limits according to signage.  The event is family friendly.  Only service animals providing a specific services are permitted. 

YOU CAN BRING: Chairs, blankets, sunshades, strollers, kid wagons, refillable drinking containers, non-alcoholic beverages, good walking shoes. Smoking is permitted only in designated areas. 

DO NOT BRING: Intoxicating substances (drugs or alcohol), outside food, firearms or weapons, or your pets.

Click for: Farm Directions – Parking off site at Coloma State Park.

Click for: Festival Visitors’ Map

Click for: Festival Lodging

Festival Parking:  Onsite parking during the festival was extremely limited. Visitor parked at the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park in Coloma approximately 2 miles north of the Farm for $5.  Free shuttles regularly ran all day between the Park and Farm.  Onsite parking at Wakamatsu Farm during the festival was reserved for disabled drivers only.  Vehicle access during festival hours was limited to parking shuttles, guest/disabled drop off, and emergency services.  Visitors with gear (strollers, shade structures, chairs, etc.,) could drop of gear at the Farm before parking at Marshall Gold Discovery Park. 

Click for: IMPORTANT Parking Information

Click for: Festival Parking Directions

Visiting Wakamatsu Farm Other Days

Wakamatsu Farm is a working farm and private property.  Unscheduled drop-in’s are not appropriate.  The American River Conservancy offers public access to the Farm during many year-round tours and events.  Visitors can find all dates to visit Wakamatsu Farm on the event calendar at www.ARConservancy.org/events.   Private Wakamatsu Farm tours are available by calling 530-621-1224 or emailing [email protected].

Historic Wakamatsu
Wakamatsu Farm in Placerville, California, is the site of:

⋅  1st Japanese colony in the USA
⋅  1st Japanese-American birth
⋅  1st Japanese woman and immigrant who died and was buried in America

Wakamatsu Farm is owned by a small, non-profit, environmental organization called American River Conservancy, which is dedicated to preserving, restoring, and offering Wakamatsu Farm for posterity.

Saturday, June 8, 2019 during WakamatsuFest150
was exactly 150 years after the colonists’ arrival.
The people who joined this one-time-only event became part of American history.

Want to visit the farm before the festival?
website: www.ARConservancy.org/wakamatsu
email: [email protected]
phone: 530-621-1224

Performers, vendors, demonstrators, speakers, etc.

52 Vendors and booths participated in WakamatsuFest150, including merchandise, food, tea, historical information, local businesses, and festival sponsors.  Thank you for joining us!

Festival Theme: “Celebrating 150 years of Japanese-American heritage, arts, and cuisine”
ARC encourages participation by anyone whose creative or professional work reflects the festival theme. 

Booth Prices Were
$50 Thursday & Friday ($25 daily)
$100 Saturday & Sunday ($50 daily)
$140 all 4 days (select booths only)
Free for non-profit or information only (no sales)

Booths were selected based on the festival theme.  Not all who applied were selected to participate.

Volunteers
Over 200 volunteers contributed over 2000 hours of service to American River Conservancy, which made this festival a grand success. Thank you to our wonderful volunteers!  We hosted our party for volunteers during the month of June 2019.

Volunteers assisted with the following types of festival jobs:

⋅  Site set up and break down
⋅  Merchandise, welcome, and kids booths
⋅  Nature interpretation and Japanese language translation
⋅  Parking, waste management
⋅  Stage hands and safety services
⋅  Many other tasks before and after the festival hours!

Volunteers benefit from a unique experience at Wakamatsu Farm in deeper connection with the land and history. 

If you would like to volunteer now, after the festival, click here to volunteer at Wakamatsu Farm.  After you submit your form, you will be contacted within a couple of weeks.

Want to visit the farm before the festival?
website: www.ARConservancy.org/wakamatsu
email: [email protected]
phone: 530-621-1224

Thank YOU Festival Sponsors!

In total, 72 sponsors donated over $135,000 to help WakamatsuFest150 become a grand celebration!  Please look at the left side panel of this website to find the logos of our business sponsors.  They were also recognized in thousands of copies of the festival commemorative program and schedule plus countless copies of posters and flyers.  We wish all our sponsors continuous prosperity in the future.

Sponsoring WakaFest150 was a great way to become part of the WakaFest150 and Wakamatsu Farm experience.  With our sponsor’s support, American River Conservancy was prepared to host over 4000 local, national, and international visitors during WakamatsuFest150.  Generous sponsors definitely helped WakamatsuFest150 become a true success.

Supporting this festival was a tremendous source of pride for individuals, businesses, and organizations.  Sponsoring this unique experience offered exposure to Japanese American people, organizations, and businesses.  Festival sponsorship also represented their commitment to effective local environmental activism, sustainable agricultural practices, and informed cultural sensitivity among community and international circles.

Sponsorships at these monetary levels were available:

• Wakamatsu Fan: $500
• Tea Spirit: $1,000
• Silk Legacy: $2,500
• Samurai Honor: $5,000
• Okei-san Memory: $10,00
• California Landmark: $20,000  – we had 2 sponsors at this level!
• National History: $50,000

Individual Sponsors: Please click here for details about sponsorship for individuals.
Business and Organization Sponsors: Please click here for details about sponsorship for businesses and organizations.

Want to visit the farm before the festival?
website: www.ARConservancy.org/wakamatsu
email: [email protected]
phone: 530-621-1224

Media Kit
Click here for the WakamatsuFest150 media kit.

Click here for the before-festival press release.

About WakamatsuFest150
WakamatsuFest150 was a sesquicentennial celebration honoring the first Japanese colony of immigrants in America. As stated on California Registered Historical Landmark #815 located in near the center of the Wakamatsu Farm property, the Japanese immigrants “arrived at Gold Hill on June 8, 1869… it marked the beginning of Japanese influence on the agricultural economy of California.” This historic date made Wakamatsu Farm in the Gold Hill area exactly 150 years-old on Saturday, June 8, 2019 during WakamatsuFest150!

The 4-day festival honored the spirit of these first Japanese pioneers along with the fascinating history of the property and region. Wakamatsu Farm is located about 2 miles south of the Marshall Gold Discovery State Historic Park, the essential center of the 1849 California gold rush. Long before and into prehistoric times, California Natives lived on this land where their traces remain today. Prominent pioneer families from Europe settled and successfully farmed the land for many generations. Now the property is owned by American River Conservancy which offers Wakamatsu Farm as a community place to experience natural resources, sustainable agriculture, and cultural history.

Large portions of Wakamatsu Farm were open to the public during the Festival. Wakamatsu Farm ranges over 272 lush acres of farmland, oak woodlands, and riparian areas. On the property are ponds and creeks that attract abundant wildlife. The land is home to resident farmers who use “better than organic” processes to feed the community. Among other onsite features, the Farm includes a native plant nursery, giving garden, and a 1.5-mile wheelchair-accessible lake loop trail.

We hope to see you soon at Wakamatsu Farm.

Privacy
Information Collection and Use. ARC is the sole owner of the information collected on this site. We will not sell, share, or rent this information to others in ways different from what is disclosed by agreement. ARC may collect information from our users at different points on our website.

Links. This website may contain links to other sites. Please be aware that ARC is not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects personally identifiable information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this Web site.

Security. This website takes every precaution to protect our users’ information. When users submit sensitive information via the website, your information is protected both online and off-line.  We do everything in our power to protect user-information off-line. All of our users’ information, not just the sensitive information mentioned above, is restricted in our offices. Only individuals who need the information to perform a specific job are granted access to personally identifiable information. Finally, the servers where we store personally identifiable information are kept in a secure environment.

Photos and Images. The photos and images on these festival pages are protected and cannot be used without the ARC’s written permission.

Contact Us:
American River Conservancy
P.O. Box 562, Coloma, CA, 95613
ARC’s Nature Center: 358 Hwy 49, Coloma, CA (open Fri to Sun,10:00 to 4:00)

Want to visit the farm before the festival?
website: www.ARConservancy.org/wakamatsu
email: [email protected]
phone: 530-621-1224

Sharing the Festival Moments

Visitors, photographers, and journalists shared thousands of beautiful photographs after WakamatsuFest150 in print and online media sources.

American River Conservancy created the photo share site at the link below to offer festival photographs for download to the public.  The Conservancy still welcomes festival photos from anyone who will allow the public to download their photos on the site below.

Click HERE for MORE WakamatsuFest150 photos to view and download.

Click for Festival retrospective VIDEO.

Please these photos capturing highlights of WakamatsuFest150.