Visitors set wishes afloat at Hasselt’s Obon Festival

Updated 17 August 2026, 16:00 CEST — Visitors marked Obon at Hasselt’s Japanese Garden on Friday 7 and Saturday 8 August by placing lanterns on the pond and burning wishes written on wooden tablets. Het Nieuwsblad documented the ceremonies after the two evening openings, while the festival programme listed both activities as ways for visitors to take part.

The garden opened after dark for the annual celebration. According to Katern: Japan’s event listing, the programme combined floating lanterns, Bon Odori dancing, live music and Japanese food. The same listing described the burning of written wishes on the water as a gesture intended to bring good fortune. No attendance total was published in the sources reviewed.

Obon is an annual Japanese observance centred on remembering ancestors. An official Web Japan factsheet, produced with support from Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, explains that families traditionally welcome ancestral spirits before guiding them back to the spirit world. Customs and dates vary across Japan. Lanterns commonly serve as symbols of welcome and farewell, while communal Bon Odori dances give the remembrance a social, celebratory character.

Hasselt’s programme adapts those traditions for a Belgian public rather than reproducing one single regional version of Japanese Obon. The Embassy of Japan in Belgium has previously featured the garden’s Obon Nocturne in its cultural calendar, describing it as an evening of ancestral remembrance, lanterns and traditional dance.

The event also underlines the Japanese Garden’s importance to Hasselt’s cultural and visitor economy. VRT NWS reported that the site drew a record 140,000 visitors in 2024 and now opens from 1 March to accommodate demand and earlier blossom seasons. The city uses festivals throughout the year to introduce visitors to elements of Japanese culture.

The garden’s regular season continues after the nocturne. Organisers have not yet published attendance figures or announced the dates and programme for the next Obon celebration.