LONG BEACH - Community members can discovery why people have been enchanted by the art of origami - Japanese paper-folding - for centuries as the Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden at Cal State Long Beach hosts the annual Origami Festival on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.Guests will have hands-on experience creating a three dimensional object from a single sheet of paper. More than 40 experts from local and national origami clubs will teach a variety of different folds - including animals, geometric forms and moveable origami - for people of all experience levels. This year's event also celebrates the Star Festival, Tanabata, a traditional Asian tale about two constellations who were separated by the Milky Way after forgetting their celestial duties. Guests will learn to write Japanese calligraphy and their own wishes on colorful strips of paper to hang on branches of bamboo to take home and be carried by the wind up to the heavens. Admission is $7 for adults, $6 for seniors, $5 for Japanese Garden members and free for children 12 and under, and includes origami paper. Free parking is available in campus Lot 16 across from the garden. Food will not be served at the event. For additional information, call (562) 985-8885 or visit www.csulb.edu/~jgarden.

********** Published: July 8, 2010 - Volume 9 - Issue 12