Hakodate summer is putting on a fine welcome for our overseas artists. We met Russia and Israel at the airport, and there are many more artists to come. The Russian group recovered from the flight and  enjoyed the weather by spending a day at the beach!

August 1 is the annual start of Hakodate’s “Port Festival”. Fireworks today, and then two days of parades throughout town. Warm up your festival muscles to be ready for WMDF’s opening on August 5!

We hope that some WMDF staff had a chance to enjoy tonight’s spectacle despite having to work on our own preparations. Summer is here and the weather forecast is good! We start building Motomachi Park tomorrow, and WMDF’s first overseas group arrive. Bring on edition number 009!

Our third staff meeting of the year will be held in the Machitsukuri Center (juujigai) from 18:30 on Jul 19 (Tue). We have lots to do, including:

• Pass lamination. Access to Motomachi Park and to restricted areas is monitored through passes. This year the passes have to last for a whole week, so we will laminate them all. On all the artist passes, we will write the names of the group members, and whether they are 20+.
• Translation Project. The first step of the “Honyaku Project” was to make the English and Japanese profiles of artists that you can now see on our site. The second step is to do the profiles of the Mogu Mogu Festival booths. We are one of the very very few bilingual events in Japan. If you have a PC, please bring it along.
• Original T-shirts orders. Each year, we produce T-shirts with a cool design, and this year is no exception. All staff have a chance to try sizes and colours.

We are still looking for volunteers. It is not too late! First-time participants and observers very welcome. A reminder that you can also Register on Our Staff Page (You will get periodic emails with the latest news: no obligation). Important Dates:

• July 19, 18:30 at the Machi-Tsukuri Center
• July 29, 18:30 at Omachi Kaikan (just down the hill from Motomachi Park).

We are especially looking for people with some language skills, and people over 20 (we have jobs such as selling alcoholic drinks, handling the cash ticket proceeds at the main gate, and ensuring safe audience flow in the park that are best carried out by adults).