Now in their ninth year, Ura Matsuri is bringing a matsuri like no other to the Southbank Centre. Compered by award-winning Malaysian actor, performance maker and poet Vera Chok and Ura Matsuri resident hostess, Japanny-A-Granny, Ura Matsuri serves up a wide range of delights wide range of delights from pop music, dance, Benshi (live film storytelling), classical music on traditional instruments, Chindon Street performance and more. With performances from legendary punk pop group Frank Chickens, world-famous Chinese percussionist Beibei Wang, Japanese Benshi style performer Tomoko Komura, Korean flutist Hyelim Kim and many more, its sure to be ‘one hell of a showcase for East and South East Asian music, performance, fun and culture’ (To Do List).

​

From ‘Ura’, meaning ‘other side’ in Japanese and ‘Matsuri’, ‘local community festival’, Ura Matsuri has been running annually since 2016, curated by Ura Matsuri Collective (UMC), a group of Japanese female artists from the legendary pop band Frank Chickens.

​

As described by an audience member of the 2024 festival, ‘It’s a celebration of culture, and in an ever divided world such a clever way to bring people together’.

​

"..whimsical, unabashedly rebellious, no-holds-barred, grab-bag celebration of ESEA (East & South East Asian) culture and identity… dazzling, absurd, irreverent, or laugh-out-loud funny, but infused unfailingly throughout with joy..."  Maiko Kawabata, Daiwa news