We are pleased to announce that the 2016 Tampa Natsumatsuri has been set for June 11 from 6pm–9pm!
That’s right, we’re moving to the evening! This should make it less hot and hopefully easier for people to attend. It’s also more traditional. We just haven’t been in a position to do it until now.
I’m also very please to announce that we have a new festival Director! Tom Gregorich is a JET alumni who has been active in sharing Japanese culture since his return to the US. He’s been a personal friend of mine for many years and I know he’s going to do a great job. Of course, I’ll still be involved, but Tom will be handling most of the coordination.
To help with the transition, we’ve also established a new email address that is dedicated to festival business. Please add TampaNatsuMatsuri@gmail.com to your address book and direct festival questions there from now on. This is the last festival email you’ll receive from the Tampakumi address. But you will still receive emails from me about other Tampa Japanese community events.
As always, we need your help to make the festival a success. Tampa Natsumatsuri is a non-profit community-based festival. This means, it’s you, the Tampa Japanese cultural community, that make it happen. So we need exhibitors, vendors, game operators, cosplayers, martial artists…anyone who participates in Japanese culture to come show off what you love. As I always say, if there’s something you’ve always wanted to see at the festival, that’s a good sign you’re the one to bring it!
Thanks and see you there,
John
JETAAFL Tampa Region Representative.