May 13, 2020 at 03:21 am
#10 - The Cancellation of the 67th Kochi Yosakoi Festival
Update posted by Daniel RolandiDear donors and followers, long time no see! We hope you are doing well in this COVID-19 situation wherever you might be.
As you might have heard, the 67th Kochi Yosakoi Festival that is supposed to take place this year has been cancelled. Here is an article on a Kochi news website.
This is the first time the festival is cancelled in its entire lifetime. It must have been a tough decision to make and we are grateful that the festival organizers prioritized the health and safety of the yosakoi teams, the staff, the spectators, and the residents of Kochi. However, our love for yosakoi has not changed. We have begun and still are practicing our new dance that was made in accordance to our theme this year: "GO!"
You can read the full statement made by Emiko Tanaka, the leader of our team, here.
What's next?
Aside from the Kochi Yosakoi Festival, we were also planning to participate in "Harajuku Omotesando Genki Matsuri Super Yosakoi Festival" in Tokyo in October 2020. At the moment of writing, it is unknown if that festival will get canceled.
Additionally, we have to bring up a topic that you might be wondering -- what will happen to your donations and the rewards you are expecting? For example, one of the rewards is a DVD of our Kochi performance but there is no performance without the festival!
With regards to your donation, we are saving the money for next year's project. We expecting that obtaining money for 2021's project will be tougher after the economic impact that COVID-19 has brought to the world. Additionally, our team have incurred some expenses that cannot be returned. We hope you understand.
As for the donation rewards, here are the adjustments:
| Original gift as written on the crowdfunding page | Replacement gift in the case Harajuku happens | Replacement gift in the case Harajuku doesn't happen |
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Video thank-you message: We'll send you a thank-you message in a video! This includes the digital card from the previous tier.
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(no change) | (no change) |
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2020 Mini DVD: We'll send you a DVD recording containing one of our 2020 performances in Kochi, by mail, email, or both depending on what you provide us! [This requires you to tell us your postal address at checkout.] This includes the video message, physical and digital card from the previous tiers.
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2020 Full DVD: We'll send you a DVD recording of all our 2020 performances in Kochi, by mail, email, or both depending on what you provide us! [This requires you to tell us your postal address at checkout.] This includes the 2019 Full DVD, video message, physical and digital card from the previous tiers.
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Once we figure out what happens to Harajuku's festival, we will prepare the replacement gifts and send them out to you all!
On behalf of the English crowdfunding team,
-Daniel Rolandi
