The Guardian Cat Festival will be held in 2020.

Taking place from September 19th (Saturday) to September 22nd (Tuesday), the events are spread out to help reduce the likelihood of spreading Covid-19.

On Saturday there will be an early morning walk around the area with an explanation of the history of chirimen fabric (application deadline is September 10th). Various crafty activities will be held later in the afternoon, aimed at Elementary and Junior High School aged children (application deadline is September 15th).

On Sunday the “edit Tango” group will be holding a wikipedia edit session all day (application deadline is September 14th).

Monday the 21st is the main event. The “Konpira Hand-Made Market” will be open, as well as an activity to paint the face on a porcelain cat. There will also be a workshop in the afternoon to make “cat-nebuta” (applications are open until it’s fully booked, 10 people). Nebuta are wooden frames with paper pasted over them that are then painted, in this case, like a cat.

On both Monday and Tuesday the “Tango Chirimen Tea House” will be operating with a socially distanced tea ceremony, the Cat’s Eye exhibit, of 365 miniature cat statues, will be open, and information the 300 years of Tango Chirimen will be available from the information booth.

On Tuesday only the “what to do with a pet in an emergency” seminar will be held (applications are open until it’s full, 25 people).

To make sure it is a safe event and further minimize the chances of transmitting Covid-19 the organizers are asking all those who attend to take the following precautions. If you have a fever don’t come, wear a mask, wash/use disinfectant on your hands, maintain social distancing (2m), and stay in well ventilated spaces. Staff will get the final call on letting people in, so please make sure you take care.