Daikin Festival returns, first time since COVID

Audrey Johnson, The Decatur Daily, Ala.
·3 min read

May 3—The Daikin Festival returns to Decatur on Friday after a four-year hiatus due to COVID, but this year it will be at Point Mallard Park.

The free, family-friendly festival begins at 6:30 p.m. and features live music, Japanese folk dancing, Japanese calligraphy, Japanese culture displays and Daikin employees playing taiko drums. A variety of food and drink options will also be available, and the event will conclude with fireworks around 9 p.m.

At its peak the event attracted 20,000 people, and hosting the celebration at Point Mallard for the first time gives it room to grow.

"We've been reassured by local authorities that there's plenty of parking at Point Mallard," said Forrest Keith, community relations manager for Daikin America and one of the festival's planners. "Enough to accommodate as big a party as you want to have."

The festival previously was held at the Morgan County Fairgrounds, which the State Products Mart Authority sold in 2019. The 2020 festival was scheduled for Point Mallard before the COVID pandemic forced its cancellation.

"This festival ... is a unique blend of Japanese culture and Southern hospitality," Keith said. "The culture in Japan is very much like the culture here in north Alabama. There are good-hearted people in Japan and there are good-hearted people in north Alabama."

City Councilman Carlton McMasters, whose district includes Point Mallard, looks forward to the celebration.

"I'm just grateful that Daikin's brought it back," McMasters said. "I'm grateful that we were able to accommodate such a great event for the city."

The Daikin Festival began in 1994 to celebrate Daikin America's grand opening. The first festival took place in the company's parking lot.

"I just like the sense of community the Daikin Festival brings," McMasters said. "It's something they put on for the community free of charge, and a lot of people get out and enjoy it."

A wide selection of food and drink selections will be available including chicken fingers, barbecue sandwiches, Cajun jambalaya prepared onsite and yakisoba — a mixture of noodles, beef, carrots and cabbage cooked on a griddle.

"I encourage everyone to try the yakisoba," Keith said. "It's delicious. Not your typical noodles. It's special so you've got to try it."

Daikin will give away a limited number of happi coats, a traditional Japanese jacket worn during festivals, but Keith invites festivalgoers to bring and wear their own.

He hopes everyone will participate in the traditional Japanese folk dancing no matter their experience level.

"Every time you hear the big taiko drums crank up, that's the time to come to the dancing circle," Keith said. "If you think, 'Oh no, I can't do that. I'd be so embarrassed if I messed up,' no one can mess up. The person on stage will be calling it. It's really easy to follow. It is as simple as a cakewalk."

— audrey.johnson@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2437.