A festival that leapt out of the farm
The "Minna no Uen Festival" is an event where Minna no Uen Kitakagaya joins the farmers who have supported our activities and people active in the food world to energize the town with "food, farming and art." The venue is not the field but Creative Center Osaka (the former Namura Shipyard Osaka Plant site), the largest cultural hub in Kitakagaya. Beneath the shipyard's red steel framework, a one-day marché rises.
From 3,000 to 10,000 people
The first one, in 2013, was hit by bad weather from a typhoon, but about 3,000 people still came. Farm members ran a "make it yourself" green smoothie stand using a recipe they had spent a year researching.
From 2014, we held it as part of "Suminoe Art Beat," organized by Suminoe Ward, and livened up the day together with local food and music events. About 10,000 people came. Next to the giant duck artwork "Rubber Duck" floating nearby, farm members, food and farming experts, and Kitakagaya artists ran markets and workshops.
In 2019, a large typhoon was approaching, and we agonized until the last minute over whether to hold it or cancel. But on the day the weather was on our side, and again about 10,000 people joined us, with some 30 stalls offering food, goods, therapy and workshops for kids.
Taking connections born in the field out into the town
The people at the marché are the ones we are connected with at the farm every day: members who grow vegetables in the field, farmers who taught us, and restaurants that use our vegetables. Relationships born in a small field gather once a year in the middle of town.
A field on its own is a small place. But when you connect people through food, it spreads to the local economy and the liveliness of the town. The annual festival was also a day to confirm that.