FAQ

The Matsuri Day (Sep 9th), and Car and Motorbike Matsuri (Sep 10th) are both free to attend. We do encourage you to purchase a ticket to these events though, so we have a record of numbers for public health and sponsorship purposes. Food, drinks, and merchandise can be purchased at these events. Events and workshops are not free.

Lanterns were in high demand last year, so this year we are taking pre-orders online only. To pre-order your lantern, head to our Events page and click on the Floating Lantern Festival event.

Most stalls and vendors at the Matsuri Day and Floating Lantern Festival take either card or cash, although a few stalls at the Floating Lantern Festival take coin donations. Our suggestion - play it safe and bring both just in case!

We introduced food pre-orders at the 2022 South West Japan Festival to help us guess how many meals to make. A lot of our vendors are small, local businesses, so if they run out, you miss out! (It also means less lines!)

The Festival is organised by Your Turn Events, and a team of passionate local South Western'ers who love bringing the event to the city of Bunbury each year. We also have a lot of financial support from our generous Sponsors, and many volunteers at the Festival who make it look easy! If you'd like to volunteer at this year's event, please get in touch with Renee at Your Turn Events (hello@yourturnevents.com.au)!