Roseburg Obon Festival Returning to Stewart Park After Years-Long Hiatus

ROSEBURG, Ore. - A Japanese tradition centered on remembrance, gratitude and community is returning to Roseburg this summer.

Roseburg Sister Cities, Inc. will hold the Roseburg Obon Festival from noon to 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 15, at Stewart Park. Admission is free, and the event is open to the public. Organizers say the festival will include food, music, dance and lanterns as the community comes together to honor loved ones and recognize the connections carried forward across generations.

Event Details

• Date: Saturday, Aug. 15, 2026
• Time: Noon to 8 p.m.
• Location: Stewart Park, 2058 NW Stewart Park Drive
• Admission: Free
• Host: Roseburg Sister Cities, Inc.

Obon is a summertime Japanese and Japanese American tradition commemorating ancestors. Lanterns, food offerings and Bon Odori community dancing are among the customs commonly associated with the observance. While Obon has Buddhist roots, festivals are often communitywide cultural events where families, neighbors and visitors are encouraged to participate.

Roseburg Sister Cities describes the local festival as both a time of reflection and a celebration of Japanese culture. The organization is reviving the event following a years-long hiatus.

A Roseburg Tradition Dating Back to 1997

The returning festival is closely connected to Roseburg’s longstanding sister-city relationship with Kuki City, Japan.

That connection began with a pen-pal relationship between students at Joseph Lane Junior High School and Shobu Junior High School in 1985. Roseburg students first traveled to Shobu in 1987, and students from Japan made their first visit to Roseburg in 1989. A formal sister-city agreement was signed in 1993.

Shobu became part of the larger Kuki City in 2010, but the relationship continued. Roseburg and Kuki formally reaffirmed their partnership in 2015. The program has included student exchanges, adult delegations, homestays, cultural workshops, art exchanges and visits between residents of the two communities.

Roseburg Sister Cities sponsored its first Japanese Obon Festival in 1997. That celebration featured taiko drumming, food and cultural booths. The 2026 event marks an effort to bring that tradition back to the community nearly three decades after the first festival.

Acclaimed Koto Musician Announced

One of the performers announced for the festival is Masumi Timson, a Salem-based musician, instructor and owner of Masumi-Koto.

Timson holds a Shihan master’s degree in koto from the Seiha Conservatory of Japanese Traditional Music. She performs classical and contemporary koto music and sings traditional Japanese songs accompanied by the koto and shamisen.

Her work has also crossed into jazz, blues, tango and Western classical music. Timson has recorded with Pink Martini and performed with the group at venues including Carnegie Hall, the Hollywood Bowl, the Grand Rex Theatre in Paris and several major venues in Tokyo.

Timson currently directs the Koto Club at Willamette University and teaches Japanese language and culture at Chemeketa Community College.

Oregon Koto-Kai has also announced plans to perform at the Roseburg festival. The approximately 20-member ensemble blends traditional and contemporary music played on the koto, a 13-stringed Japanese instrument with movable bridges. The group was founded in 2012 by koto master Mitsuki Dazai and regularly performs at cultural events throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Organizers have also invited local food vendors and artists to participate. A complete entertainment schedule, vendor list and schedule of activities had not been publicly released as of July 21.

Roseburg Sister Cities is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting friendship and understanding between Roseburg and Kuki City through cultural exchanges and community programs. Additional festival announcements are expected through the organization’s website and Facebook page.

See the Facebook event page located here.