Powell Street Festival Mascot
Concept Development, Creative Ideation, Social Media Marketing
Backstory
The Powell Street Festival is one of the biggest and longest-running festivals of its kind. Since 1977, the Powell Street Festival has celebrated Japanese Canadian art, community, culture, and food, and it attracts over 16,000 attendees during the first weekend of August. I have been involved with the organization since 2015 as a a member of the Programming Committee and as a volunteer coordinator. In 2016, I was asked by the president to join the Board of Directors, which I was honored to accept.
In 2016, the Artistic Director informed me that a local costume maker would be creating an unofficial mascot costume in honour of the festival’s 40th anniversary- a Daruma!
What's a Daruma?
A Daruma doll (aka Dharma) is a Japanese good luck charm commonly found at many Buddhist temples across the country that aren't just seen as lucky, but as symbols of perseverance.
Darumas are representations of Bodhidarma, a legendary Buddhist monk who is said to have meditated for nine years without moving, which caused his limbs to atrophy and fall off.
Daruma have a significant place in Japanese culture- for example, the Japanese name for snowman, yukidaruma, literally means "snow daruma"- and there are many toys and games that involve the character. Daruma were one of Japan's original roly-poly toys as a spherical toy with a weighted bottom that always rolls back to its 'feet'.
How do you get lucky?
At purchase, the eyes are white (as above), and when the owner sets a goal (or makes a wish), they paint in one eye.
When the goal is achieved (or the wish is granted), the other eye gets painted in.
Daruma are also great at motivating people to achieve their goals because every time they see the Daruma with only one eye painted, it reminds them of that goal and can inspire them to keep working to achieve it.
The Mascot Concept= Insta success!
Since the Daruma can be considered a symbol of Japan, and the Powell Street Festival is Vancouver’s largest Japanese Canadian festival, I had an idea.
I suggested that we take pictures of the Daruma at various Vancouver landmarks (such as the Vancouver Convention Centre, the Skytrain, and the Woodward’s Building).
Then, to build some social media buzz for the 40th anniversary, we could create a Daruma Instagram account and post the pictures in the weeks leading up to the festival.
The Board of Directors loved the idea and the project was greenlit, and that's exactly what we did.
Results
Everything was ready but.... there was only one catch- nobody wanted to be the one in the costume.
So, since it was my idea, I figured it was only fair that I wear it.
Plus, it was a great opportunity to get outside of my comfort zone, and believe me, in the scorching summer heat, that costume was not comfortable, at all.
For more photos (most of which are of me in the costume), please see: https://www.instagram.com/powellstfest_daruma/
