Last weekend my family enjoyed the annual Hamaotsu Summer Jazz Festival. We go every year and always have a great time. This year the Jazz Fest was combined with another event, called the BQ Gourmet, which I learned means B-Grade Gourmet. This is a food event involving over 80 Shiga area restaurants, each offering 1 dish. Dishes ranged from kebabs to hamburger to fried chicken, from Hokkaido style ramen to spicy Korean somen to beef udon. Many dishes included the local speciality beef, called Ohmi Beef. Though not as famous as Kobe Beef, it is nonetheless incredibly delicious. This festival is held over 3 days, from Friday to Sunday. Each day includes live events on the central stage, the food vendors, kids area and fireworks to finish each day. We enjoyed watching dance performance and eating on Friday. On Saturday we couldn’t attend because of work at our English conversation school (which is only a 5 minute walk from the festival location). On Sunday we enjoyed the whole day, including live jazz and food! Did I mention the best part about this festival? It’s held in Nagisa park, which is a lakeside park in Otsu, and the festival is free! Beautiful scenery, green space, live music and delicious gourmet food. Life is good.
Edward, Smith’s School of English Otsu
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