YES! IN AUGUST 2023 GINZA HOLIDAY FESTIVAL RETURNS!

After restarting last year with Ginza-Lite, in 2023 MBT will bring back our full full Ginza Holiday Festival on August 11-13, 2023.

  • When is Ginza Holiday 2023?

    • August 11-13, 2023 (times to be announced)

  • Where is Ginza Holiday?

    • MBT Parking Lot
    • 435 W. Menomonee, Chicago 60614

  • Features of Ginza Holiday 2023

    • Our famous Chicken Teriyaki and other menu items
    • Performances on our main stage by Minyo & Taiko and other groups
    • Waza Artisans from Japan
    • Wonderful Craft Vendors

What’s on the menu?

Menu items that are available at GINZA LITE

    • Chicken Teriyaki Dinner includes 1/2 Chicken Teriyaki, rice, and coleslaw
    • Veggie Burger Dinner includes Teriyaki Marinated Veggie Burger, rice, coleslaw, and edamame
    • Hawaiian Shave Ice Finely shaved ice topped with your choice of syrup
    • Assorted Soft Drinks Ice-Tea/Lemonade (16oz cup), Coke/Diet Coke (12oz can), Water (1/2 liter bottle)

About Food Tickets: For each of Ginza Lite’s menu offerings, a color coded ticket is issued by the Ticket Booth. Customers take these tickets to our Food and Refreshment booths to be redeemed for the purchased items. Whether making a ‘walk up’ purchase or picking up an ‘online pre-order’ guests must first stop at the Ticket Booth.

Entertainment

As we mentioned, we are restarting small which in the case of performances means we will not open our large stage. Instead our performances will be “ground-level” with seating provided for the audience. This will be a more intimate, close up, chance to experience performances. The following groups will perform at Ginza Lite (scheduled times are subject to change).

MBT Minyo

Saturday, Aug 13 at 2:00 pm
Sunday, Aug 14 at 2:00 pm

MBT Taiko

Saturday, Aug 13 at 3:00 pm
Saturday, Aug 13 at 4:00 pm (with Ho Etsu)
Sunday, Aug 14 at 1:00 pm

HO ETSU Taiko

Saturday, Aug 13 at 1:00 pm
Saturday, Aug 13 at 4:00 pm (with MBT Taiko)
Sunday, Aug 14 at 3:00 pm

PRE-ORDER GINZA LITE FOOD

GINZA LITE 2022 is now over – thank you for your support!

How Does Pre-Ordering Work?

  • Using our new Pre-Order page select items and quantities.
  • Choose which day & time you will attend Ginza Lite – When you pay for items in your shopping cart you can select the day and approximate time for your pickup.
  • Pickup your food at Ginza Lite – On the day you selected, stop at our Ticket Booth to get tickets. With tickets in hand you can proceed to pickup your food and beverages.
  • Dine-in or Take-home – We will have a dine-in section set up and we invite you to stay, visit with friends and catch a performance.

GINZA LITE IS NOW OVER – THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

ABOUT GINZA LITE

Due to the pandemic we cancelled our Ginza Holiday Festival in 2020 and 2021. Of course we were disappointed and we’ve heard from many people about how much they’ve missed our festival. It hardly feels like summer in Lincoln Park without the thunderous sounds of taiko drums or the irresistible aroma of Chicken Teriyaki on the grill.

In 2022, even though many things are opening up, it’s still a challenge to organize and present a festival like Ginza. After much thought we came up with the idea of GINZA LITE – a scaled down version that still focuses on our delicious CHICKEN TERIYAKI while providing some entertainment that people look forward to each year.

Thank you for your support and understanding, our hope is that GINZA LITE is our first step in returning to a full Ginza Holiday Festival in 2023 and beyond.

Here is a summary of GINZA LITE and how it is different from a normal GINZA HOLIDAY FESTIVAL.

What’s “IN” Ginza Lite:

  • Free entrance to Ginza Lite – children under 15 must be accompanied by an adult
  • Chicken Teriyaki and veggie dinners freshly grilled
  • Shave ice and an assortment of soft drinks
  • Eat-in dining set up in our parking lot or you can take your dinners home
  • PRE-ORDER sales is now closed – WALKUP SALES OF MENU ITEMS AVAILABLE WHILE SUPPLIES LAST! 
  • Entertainment provided by MBT Minyo, MBT Taiko, and Ho Etsu Taiko (performances will be “ground-level” with seating)
  • Portable toilet and handwashing facilities available

What’s “DIFFERENT”

  • No cultural displays or craft vendors
  • The WAZA will not be able to participate
  • Our permanent stage will not be open – performances will be on “ground-level”
  • Sushi, udon and corn-on-the-cob will not be available
  • No alcoholic beverages will be sold
  • The temple building will be closed to the public (no tours or access to indoor facilities)

Please understand that many of these missing features are a result of the pandemic still affecting availability of resources – we hope to return these features next year.

Ginza is MBT’s largest annual fundraising event and it contributes significantly to our operating budget. If you can’t make it to Ginza Lite please consider making a donation to MBT by using this link Donate to MBT. Thank you for your support.