TRADITION TRANSFORMS

What to expect as Arizona Matsuri heads online this year pushers

Petal

After growing in popularity for decades, Arizona Matsuri, a festival celebrating Japanese culture and art, hosted its largest event yet at Steele Indian School Park in Phoenix last year.

Tens of thousands of attendees queued in hour-long lines for foods such as takoyaki (fried batter octopus balls) and ramen, watched taiko drumming performances and marveled at “the Candyman” Shinobu Ichiyanagi crafting candy sculptures. • Such a largescale event can’t happen this year due to the coronavirus pandemic. So the matsuri, which translates to “festival,” will soldier on this year as a virtual event on Facebook for the first time.