What is EC?

About Earth Celebration

Since 1988, Kodo, a world renowned taiko ensemble and Japan's most internationally acclaimed performing arts group, has held an annual music festival called "Earth Celebration" (EC), produced in cooperation with Sado City. For nearly a quarter century, EC has been a venue for Kodo to invite artists they have met in their travels back to its home of Sado Island to engage in unprecedented musical collaborations. Under the theme "Tataku" (to beat a rhythm), the most primal human expression, and set against the rich natural splendor of Sado, EC seeks an alternative global culture through musical and cultural collaborations with artists from around the world. Now in its 25th year, EC is the nation's longest running music festival, described by the New York Times as "Japan's leading music event." In 2009, in recognition of the organization's "notable contribution to the promotion of Japanese traditional culture and to the revitalization of the local community," the Earth Celebration Committee was awarded the Tiffany Foundation Award for the Preservation of Japanese Traditional Arts and Culture in Contemporary Society.