kaDON · Little Tokyo, Los Angeles

Taiko Block Party

Marketing & Event Coordinator

A first-year taiko festival, lit by 156 lanterns across five venue zones and promoted by a six-month campaign.

I helped a brand-new taiko event feel like a place worth gathering: lanterns overhead, a clear program and a six-month campaign.

250attendees at a first-year event
30volunteers led on the day
156lanterns across 5 venue zones
Role
Marketing & Event Coordinator
Organization
kaDON, Little Tokyo, Los Angeles
Timeline
Mar to Sep 2026, Labor Day Weekend
Scope
Decor, campaign, program, show day

What I owned

Four jobs, one festival.

1

Decor & installation

156 lanterns, cube towers and a photo activation across 5 zones.

See the decor →
2

Campaign & content

Six months of reels, graphics, signage and merch.

See the campaign →
3

Program

Wrote the Pathways and Skills Lab copy for the digital program.

See the program →
4

Show day

Led 30 volunteers and pivoted communications when it rained.

See show day →

Challenge

How might a first-year taiko event feel like a place worth gathering?

There was no prior year to learn from and no existing crowd to count on, on Labor Day Weekend in Little Tokyo.

The event had to be easy to find, easy to understand and special once people arrived, with five venue zones feeling like one place.

Three ideas behind the work

1

One place, five zones

Shared decor and wayfinding so every zone felt like the same festival.

2

Light as the signature

156 lanterns became the look people photographed and remembered.

3

Story before the day

A six-month campaign introduced performers and culture before doors opened.

Decor & installation

Lanterns and block towers turned a street into a destination.

I conceived and installed the branded decor, coordinating vendors from design through on-site installation.

Cube towers spelling TAIKO, BLOCK, PARTY beside the stage backdrop and taiko drums
On site: the cube towers beside the main stage.
Design plan for the fabric display cubes: towers spelling TAIKO, BLOCK and PARTY with five large cubes of artwork
The design plan: 15 unique 14-inch cubes spelling the name, plus 5 large artwork cubes.

The full decor rundown

Hanging paper lanterns: 156

  1. 48 in magenta, pink and orange
  2. 48 in red and white
  3. 60 in dark and light teal
  4. Hung over the main courtyard, 13 vendor tents and the terrace

The rest of the street

  1. Block towers: letters on two sides, activities and sponsors on the others
  2. A floating lantern activity for featured performers and community groups
  3. Kuchi-shoga bracelets and a tanzaku strip wall
  4. Chalk A-frame signs pointing to the community center, terrace and skills labs

Campaign & content

Six months of storytelling built the crowd.

I ran the event marketing campaign across digital and social channels for kaDON and Taiko Block Party, plus event content with Gomi Taiko Kai.

What I produced

Rollout, week by week

Week 1Featured performers, a collegiate push, Gomi Taiko and the schedule
Week 2Circle Competition categories, advisory council, vendors and workshops
Week 3T-shirt reveal, Little Tokyo businesses, intensives
Week 4Final-week countdown
InstagramWatch a reel I editedOpens on Instagram →

A few of the graphics

Artwork credit: the Taiko Block Party logo and all event illustrations were created by Joseph Kim. I designed these social graphics, captions and the rollout using his art. Check him out at joki-design.com.

Instagram graphic: What are Circle Competitions, with the circle competition logo
Explainer cover: Circle Competitions.
Instagram graphic explaining that a circle competition is judged by the community
The explainer slide that follows.

Program

The program guided people through the day.

I wrote festival programming materials, including the Pathways section and the Skills Lab copy, so newcomers and longtime players could each find where they belonged.

CanvaFlip through the festival programOpens in Canva →

Show day

One live experience, coordinated from the ground.

  • Activities and programming: planned what happened across the zones.
  • People: led 30 volunteers and coordinated performers and partners.
  • Rain day: pivoted communications to keep guests informed.
Performers in navy Taiko Block Party shirts laughing together in front of the cube towers and street backdrop, with taiko drums in front
Performing on the Block Party stage, in front of the cube towers.

Behind the scenes

Building the block, one cube at a time.

Elisha laughing beside the finished TAIKO BLOCK PARTY cube towers in the kaDON office hallway
The cube towers, assembled at the kaDON office.
Three towers of fabric cubes spelling TAIKO, BLOCK and PARTY, with sponsor and community logos on the sides
Letters on two sides, partner logos and artwork on the others.
Joe and the shirt artwork.
The performance team in navy shirts, arms around each other on stage
The team on stage.
Elisha and a teammate posing in front of the illustrated Little Tokyo backdrop between cube towers
The photo backdrop, between the block towers.
Selfie at the volunteer check-in table with cube towers and paper lanterns behind
Check-in table on show day.
Elisha and a teammate holding oversized artwork cubes in a storage room
Unpacking the large artwork cubes.

Artwork credit: the Taiko Block Party logo, shirt design and all event illustrations were created by Joseph Kim. Check him out at joki-design.com.

Outcome

250 people came to the first Taiko Block Party.

A first-year event with no prior baseline, lit by 156 lanterns and run with 30 volunteers.

Back to the street