City: Delray Beach, FL

Category: Annual Events & Festivals

Telephone: (561) 495-0233

Address: 4000 Morikami Park Rd.

Description: In early to mid Jan, the serene grounds of the Morikami Museum and Japanese Gardens turn into a giant Japanese New Year’s celebration, with festivities just about everywhere you look. Oshogatsu is the most important holiday of the year in Japan, and a time when people look to the new year for physical and spiritual renewal. The Japanese people make a conscious effort, in the weeks before the new year, to clear away their debts and financial obligations, in order to start the new year with a clean slate.Before Oshogatsu arrives, many Japanese gather at important shrines and temples, where they greet the stroke of midnight with exclamations of Akemashite omedeto gozaimasu! (Happy New Year!). Those who are celebrating in their homes toast the new year with a ceremonial drink called otoso, a sweet sake, while eating a traditional stew dish called ozoni. The festivities at the Morikami will be the same ones enjoyed in Japan. There will be pounding of the rice, and then the making of rice cakes. Calligraphers will express New Year’s greetings with a flowing, artistic beauty and sweet thoughts. You can visit with a fortune teller, watch performances by the Lion Dancer to the accompaniment of taiko drumming, and watch the beautiful tea ceremonies. The kids can play Japanese games, try their hands at traditional crafts, and enjoy an occasional lift in the bounce house. Admission is charged.