Sapporo summer festivals

• Founded in 1990 by Leonard Bernstein, the Pacific Music Festival is a celebration of classical music held annually in Sapporo, Japan. For two of the last three years, I’ve attended the festival’s Picnic Concert, held the last Sunday of July in Sapporo Art Park.

Sitting on a sloping lawn before a huge stage, in 2008 I listened to the works of Mozart, Wagner, Brahms and Dvorak, to name just a few, performed by the Tokyo String Quartet and other, international artists. To even the most discerning ears, it could only be described as something extraordinary. This all-day outdoor concert cost ¥2,000, or just under $20.

In 2009 this month-long extravaganza takes place July 4-29, and the Artistic Director is conductor Michael Tilson Thomas. (Contact Sumitomo Seimei Sapporo Chuo Bldg. 1F, 1-14 Minami, 2-jo, Higashi 1-chome, Chuo-ku, Sapporo 060-0052, Japan; phone +81 11 242 2211, fax 242 1687, www.pmf.or.jp/en).

• Another great summer event is the Beer Garden Festival, held July 21-Aug. 20 in Odori Park. Each city block is hosted by a different beer distributor (Kirin, Asahi, Suntory and, my favorite, Sapporo). Thousands of people sit outside enjoying the surroundings as they drink beer and try the food booths.

• Also, on Aug. 1, 2008, my daughter Dara, a friend John Klein and I attended the Toyohira River Fireworks display, where we were joined by our Japanese friends and about 500,000 others. This is held annually on the two Fridays at the end of July or beginning of August. In 45 minutes we saw 3,000 fireworks; on the previous Friday there were 4,000.

For Sapporo event info, visit www.city.sapporo.jp/city/english.

STANLEY OSUR
Hawthorne, NJ