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9th Annual Los Angeles Tanabata Festival - August 19 - 20, 2017 . The Los Angeles Tanabata Festival is a community event that celebrates the Tanabata (Seventh Night of the Seventh Moon) festival that is celebrated all over Japan. The festival is highlighted by the display of huge hand-made Kazari (decorations) at the Geffen Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) plaza in the Little Tokyo district of Los Angeles, California. In 2009 Mr. Yoshihito Yonezawa organized a group of volunteers to bring the Tanabata Festival to be part of the Nisei Week Celebration, a week-long community cultural event that has been held in Little Tokyo since 1934. The Tanabata Festival has been supported by the Little Tokyo Public Safety Association; the Japanese Prefectural Association of Southern California and the Nisei Week Foundation. The Consul General of Japan in Los Angeles has been the permanent Honorary Chairman of the Tanabata Festival. The Los Angeles Tanabata Festival is a cultural event held to encourage fellowship and community spirit by organizing workshops in Kazari-making. Individuals, families, groups, churches, schools, public entities, businesses and anyone who desires to get involved is welcome to take part in a kazari contest. Free workshops are open to the public to learn how to make the Kazari. These workshops are held prior to the festival. The Festival features Japanese food, Japanese martial arts and performing arts to be introduced and presented to the public. It raises awareness to the public about the Japan summer season festivals and introduces young and old alike to the culture and beauty of Japan. The attendance at the festival benefits the general public of Los Angeles and promotes the diversity and development of Little Tokyo as well as promoting U.S.-Japan cooperation and friendship.