5 November 2024
A Joyful Celebration of East & South East Asian Culture and Identity - Review of ‘Ura Matsuri’, Hoxton Hall, 19 October 2024 by Maiko Kawabata
Upon entering Hackney’s Hoxton Hall on a Saturday evening in October, visitors were greeted by a sign in Japanese calligraphy that said ‘Kannazuki’ or ‘Godless month’—a reference to the Shinto tradition of October as a month without gods. The venue, originally built for Victorian-era working-class East Londoners, had been transformed into the setting for ‘Ura Matsuri’ or ‘Ura’ Festival—where ‘ura’ means ‘flip side’ or ‘the other side’. ‘Alt-festival’ is an approximate translation, in the sense that the event was characterised by its unconventionality, gleefully turning things upside down (perhaps while the gods weren’t looking).
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