Seabrook Obon Festival Marks 80th Year with Dance, Drums & Culture

Traditional Japanese folk dancing and taiko drumming will be featured during the Seabrook Buddhist Temple’s 80th Annual Obon Festival on Saturday, July 19, 2025. Seabrook Buddhist Temple is located at 9 Northville Road, Bridgeton, New Jersey 08302. Admission and parking are free. Folding or lawn chairs are recommended for your comfort.

Special Presentation “The Spinach King” will be given by John M. Seabrook, Jr at 4:45 pm. Books will be available for purchase and signed by the author.

Program Highlights: 4 – 9 p.m.

4 p.m. to close: Food booths and craft tables will be open.
4:00 p.m. to close: Temple Meditation Garden open for viewing. Memorial luminaries and memorial floating lanterns available for purchase.
4:00-4:30: Mini lecture and Q&A on Buddhism in the Temple with Rev. Kurt Rye.
4:45-5:15 & 5:00-5:30 p.m: Presentation by John M. Seabrook, Jr. on his new book, “The Spinach King”.
4:30 p.m: Shotokan Karate Academy: Traditional Japanese Karate Demonstration.
5:15 p.m: Upper Deerfield Township Schools Summer Theater Performance.
5:45p.m: & 8 p.m. Japanese folk dancing. Audience participation is encouraged.
6:50 – 8:00 p.m: Japanese taiko drumming will be performed by the Seabrook Buddhist Temple’s Hoh Daiko Drummers. There will be special guest performances by the Soh Daiko Drummers of the New York Buddhist Church and Nen Daiko of the Ekoji Buddhist Temple, Fairfax Station, Virginia.
8:45 p.m: Closing service in the meditation garden with Rev. Kurt Rye.

Funding for the Obon Festival has been made possible in part by the New Jersey Council on the Arts/Department of State, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Cumberland County Board of Chosen Commissioners, and the Cumberland County Cultural and Heritage Commission.

The Seabrook Educational & Cultural Center will be open from 1-4 pm. They are located at the Upper Deerfield Municipal Building (use rear entrance), 1325 NJ-77, Bridgeton, NJ 08302. seabrookhistory@gmail.com