JapanFest Atlanta Review & Tips for Attending with Kids

We got to attend JapanFest Atlanta this year with the kids and, while we certainly did enjoy ourselves, there are a few things I’ll do differently next year.

One of the reasons why we started homeschooling was so we could take advantage of educational travel opportunities. There’s so much to experience in the world and, if there’s an option to learn through immersive & hands-on experiences, we’re definitely going to choose that over “just” reading books and such.

As much as we’d like to travel non-stop though…it isn’t always possible. Until I become a world-famous, millionaire blogger (a homeschool mom can dream, can’t she?), we’ll have to settle for traveling as much as we can, however we can.

Sometimes, that means attending local expos & fairs, like JapanFest Atlanta, instead of actually visiting Japan!

We’ll visit you one day, Japan…one day!

Anyways, my youngest son has been especially interested in learning about the Japanese culture for a number of years. He enjoys watching anime, loves trying the exotic Japanese dishes, is a big Godzilla fan, has Gudetama posters hanging up all around his room. When I found out about the JapanFest event coming to Atlanta, I knew we had to attend!

About JapanFest Atlanta

I still consider our family to be newbies in the state of Georgia so, I still feel the need to go down research rabbit holes when it comes to deciding whether or not to include various events in our schedule. It’s all good – I’m a sucker for a research project and now, you’ll get to benefit from it all!

JapanFest has been happening in Atlanta for over 35 years! Although it’s name has changed throughout the years (it was originally called “Japan Week”), this cultural event “aims to promote understanding between Japanese and Americans in the Southeast.”

Typically held over a weekend, JapanFest features a variety of cultural demonstrations and exhibits, vendor booths, workshops, and (of course!) cuisine.

Tips for Attending JapanFest with Kids

Being that JapanFest is about an hour and a half drive from my home in Georgia, my family and I spent one Saturday afternoon at JapanFest this year. We had a great time but, next year, we’ll be making some changes in order to make our JapanFest experiences even better.

What will we do differently next year? What will we continue to do? Let’s chat!

JapanFest Tickets

One quick look at the website, and you’ll notice that tickets for JapanFest do seem very reasonably priced. By purchasing our tickets in advance, I was able to get admission for my husband and I for a total of $32! A steal, right?

Look a little longer and you’ll notice children ages 6 and under get free admission. Read a bit further and you may notice a section referring to teachers being able to bring their K-12 students to JapanFest for free.

You guys! Thank goodness I noticed the blurb about educators! I emailed one of the event coordinators and asked if homeschooling children would qualify for the complimentary tickets. Within a day or two, I received a response in my inbox confirming the inclusion of homeschoolers!

After receiving the confirmation, I applied for free tickets for my kids. A few weeks later, their complimentary tickets were confirmed! I’ll definitely be applying for these tickets again next year and encourage you to do the same!

Attend One Day? Or Two?

This year, we attended JapanFest for an afternoon…not even a full day! Next year? We’re going to be making some changes.

We decided to attend on a Saturday afternoon because they were open 1 hour later than was schedueld on Sunday. Since we live about an hour and a half away, we figured the hours would allow us to leave home a little later and still see everything.

We were wrong!

There is so much to see and do that, even after spending about 5 hours walking around, we left wanting to see more.

We got to walk around the entire vendor section and even got to enjoy a meal (more on both later), but we really missed out on seeing a number of demonstrations and shows. Though we did get to see a comedic VR Samurai show, a Kyūdō demonstration, and a Kendo demonstration, there were SO many more that we wish we could’ve experienced!

In addition to the demonstrations, shows, there were a number of both free & paid workshops for all ages. I’m talking bonsai workshops, Ikebana floral arranging, and even Japanese festival games for kids. So many amazing experiences to be had and we hardly made a dent.

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I know that we’ll likely never be able to experience every.single.thing at a festival…and that’s ok. This was our first year and I feel like we got a good taste of everything JapanFest has to offer.

Next year, though, I think we’ll put more of an effort in to attend both days of the festival, perhaps staying overnight at a nearby hotel.

Japanese Cuisine

We are a family of foodies. We’ll try nearly anything once and, if we’re attending a cultural event, you can bet that we’re going to do what we can to try a number of dishes and drinks.

Needless to say, we didn’t really get to try many foods while at JapanFest. I was warned about this, but still.

At JapanFest, there were 3 main food sections: an indoor section with many vendors in the main hall, an outdoor section in a courtyard of sorts (featuring grilled wagyu beef & alcoholic beverages), and a number of food truck options located outside before the admission entrance.

We walked past the food trucks outside because, well we had FOMO on whatever was waiting for us inside. Inside, though? Inside was a mad house. We ended up standing in one of the shorter food lines for about 45 minutes and ended up with over-priced, cold (supposed to be hot) food.

One other thing I wasn’t expecting? Many of the food booths didn’t accept credit cards for payment! Instead, payment was accepted via cash, venmo, or cashapp. I hardly carry cash anymore and, thank goodness I have a venmo account!

My husband, though? He is not so great with technology and, if he had taken the kids to this event on his own, I don’t know that he could’ve figured out how to get a venmo or cashapp account.

Next year, we will definitely be visiting the food trucks and will only be standing in the lines inside during an “off” hour and not during a prime meal time.

Vendor Booths

When I learned that JapanFest was being hosted in a convention center, I pictured myself walking through an entire room filled with vendor booths. In reality, less than half of the main hall hosted vendor booths.

There’s not really anything I can do differently next year in regards to vendor booths, but I still figured this was worth mentioning! What can I say? I love to shop!

The vendor booths were all selling a variety of items from Japan: clothing, decor, snacks, and even a booth to get a Japanese fortune!

There were a wide variety of prices for items, even for the same item at different vendor booths. I definitely suggest shopping around if possible.

We ended up getting a few snacks and some decorations for the boys to hang up in their rooms. Next year, I hope to see even more vendor booths so I can shop even more.

Until Next Year, JapanFest Atlanta!

Are you planning on attending JapanFest in Atlanta next year, too? I know my family and I are looking forward to it and, with a few minor adjustments, we’ll have an even better time next year!

There are so many cultural events happening in communities all over the world! To find more events like JapanFest in your area, take a look social media and ask friends & family if they know of anything coming up. Who knows…maybe there’s an amazing big event happening nearby that you haven’t even heard of yet – like I experienced with JapanFest!

What sort of events do you like to take your family to? I’d love to know! Leave a comment below or head on over to That Homeschool Family Hangout and let us know there!

Until next time, stay safe and enjoy quality time with your family,