After an absence from any festivals in Tokyo for over a decade, things changed this year as my wife and I thought it’d be a good idea to combine our regular long Sunday morning dog walks with trips to some of these events. For a six month period between March and September we went to five weekend festivals celebrating the cultures of countries from Asia, Africa, North America and Europe.

Fiesta Mexicana @ Odaiba, Koto-ku; Sunday 15th September.

The smallest of the five festivals was probably the Mexican one but that is what will be the main focus of this post. On a boiling hot mid-September day we took the train down to Tokyo Teleport station in Koto-ku over an hour before the starting time of 11:00am. It didn’t take place where I thought as we found it by accident during the dog walk part of our trip around the LOVE sign and Statue of Liberty area.

Our chihuahua seemed to be pretty happy in a previously untouched area for him or maybe he was just excited about being at a festival celebrating the land of his (great, great, great) grandfather!! I was pretty up for it all too and it gave me a chance to wear what I think is the GOAT (greatest of all time) of football shirts. The Mexico World Cup 1998 shirt is an absolute classic with its iconic, cultural and historical Sun Stone design representing the country’s pre-Hispanic roots. Not bad for a shirt made by a little known Mexican manufacturer!

There was live music on this stage later on!

Not long after arriving, I became a mariachi band singer! Cultural appropriation, eat your heart out!!

There were a dozen or so stalls selling all kinds of colourful clothing, tote bags, accessories, hats and wrestling masks.

Mexico may have taken top billing for this festival but it was really more of a Latin American one celebrating that region. There were stalls selling food from the likes of Peru, Brazil and Chile. I recognised the owner of the latter as I remember visiting his restaurant (Casa de Eduardo) in Nakano but it was on a day when they were closed. I had also seen him in a YouTube video since then so we spoke to him and one of his staff members for a bit whilst my wife waited for her chicken leg to be ready.

Still hungry after that we finished the morning by sharing a big burrito (1000 yen). This delicacy is one that I really do love but just don’t have very often at all. It was really tasty and I could probably have eaten another one but not at that price!!

Bonus: All-in-all we attended five different festivals in 2024 celebrating the culture of other countries. The other four were all in Yoyogi Park in Shibuya ward and of different size.

• African Heritage Festival, Sunday 23rd June.
• Jamaican Festival, Sunday 23rd June.

Two for the price of one on this occasion as they were taking place next to each other on the same day. Sadly the conditions were a little wet so we didn’t spend such a long time at each one but between us we sampled some food and drink at them both.

• Thai Festival, Sunday 12th May.

Our time in Thailand just over a decade ago was perhaps our most memorable trip so we have a lot of love for the country, and this festival was an easy way of reliving that in part by sampling a range of food and watching a Thai dance show. Not surprisingly, there are many Thai restaurants in Tokyo and a good number of them have stalls at this festival which means it’s one of the busiest and most popular festivals to take place in Yoyogi Park.

• Green Ireland Festival, Sunday March 17th.

This was my first festival for many, many years and probably the one that sparked my interest in going to the others seen in this post. I enjoyed it so much that I was keen to return to see other countries celebrated in such a way. More details here.

Click here to read ‘Dining Out: Mexican Food In Tokyo + The Day Of The Dead Festival, Tijuana Trip Flashback & Mexico ’86 World Cup Memories!’

Click here to read ‘The Crowds Come Out To Have A Sham-rockin’ Good Time At The Inaugural Green Ireland Festival 2024’

Click here to read ‘Tokyo Daytripper Special: TF Top 10……Quirky Japanese Festivals’

Click here to read ‘Dining Out: Around The World…In Tokyo! Pt II’