{"id":2268,"date":"2026-02-06T12:42:04","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T03:42:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldsmeet.org\/?page_id=2268"},"modified":"2026-04-02T13:05:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T04:05:07","slug":"2025-defict","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/worldsmeet.org\/en\/2025-defict","title":{"rendered":"WMDF edition 018 donation campaign"},"content":{"rendered":"
\t\t

\u201cClosing the Gap\u201d Campaign<\/h1>\n\t\t
<\/div><\/div>\n\t\t

Until March 31, 2026 [Closed]<\/h3>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n

Last updated on April 4, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Year of Achievements \u2014 and One Serious Challenge<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to our audiences, artists, partners, and sponsors, the 2025 World Music and Dance Festival<\/strong> in Hakodate was a year of real progress<\/strong>, featuring:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2713<\/mark> A full seven-day festival program
\u2713<\/mark> Re-imagining cultural heritage sites, including the Jewel Box
\u2713<\/mark> Official mayoral open performance at Hakodate City Hall
\u2713<\/mark> Collaboration with the “Out of the Box” event
\u2713<\/mark> Automated bilingual festival signage
\u2713<\/mark> Popular new sponsor pass ticketing systems
\u2713<\/mark> Introduction of welcome drinks and special discounts
\u2713<\/mark> Increased audience attendance
\u2713<\/mark> Growth in both the range and sales of original merchandise
\u2713<\/mark> Increased beverage sales
\u2713<\/mark> Expanded number of sponsoring partners<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By almost every measure, we had a great year, but the one downside is unfortunately serious:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00d7<\/mark> For the fiscal year, we are facing an estimated deficit of approximately 5 million JPY.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The primary reason for this shortfall has been Japan\u2019s rising costs. Because we accommodate artists throughout the entire festival period, hotel prices in particular had a significant impact, alongside increased venue, equipment, and setup\/outsourcing costs due to inflation. Had revenues and expenditures aligned more closely, this would have been a near-perfect year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Strengthening our Foundations for the Long Term<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So, what about next year? We won’t give up easily. We are proceeding with preparations while addressing expenditure reduction measures and revenue enhancement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To strengthen the festival\u2019s long-term foundations responsibly, we are launching a \u201cClosing the Gap\u201d<\/strong> support campaign, running until March 31, 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A dedicated donation page is available via Donorbox<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Message from the Organisers<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We have faced difficult moments before \u2014 most notably around 2017 \u2014 when the festival\u2019s growth outpaced our organisational capacity. Since then, we have rebuilt steadily through careful, independent initiatives, including significant improvements to our internal systems through in-house development. Until this past event, all signs suggested that our finances were moving onto a more stable footing, which makes this setback particularly disappointing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To address the current shortfall responsibly, we are combining interest-free personal loans (approximately 2.7 million JPY)<\/strong> with temporarily recorded unpaid expenses with cooperating partner organisations (approximately 2.7 million JPY)<\/strong>. This approach allows us to meet our obligations while keeping the festival operational and accountable. We are committed to ensuring that this situation does not repeat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since its founding in 2008, the World Music and Dance Festival has welcomed over 2,700 artists from 65 countries and regions<\/strong>, reaching a cumulative audience of more than 410,000 visitors<\/strong>, summed up by one of our long-standing taglines:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every August. For 30,000 people. Worlds meet in Japan.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our long-term vision remains unchanged. The road ahead continues \u2014 toward welcoming artists from 100 countries and regions, and far beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If this festival matters to you \u2014 as a place where the histories and cultures of the world meet in the here and now \u2014 we sincerely ask for your support in helping us close this gap<\/strong> and carry the festival forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thank you for standing with us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Worlds Meet Japan, General Incorporated Association
Ian Frank, Festival Director of WMDF
Naoto Soga, Artistic Director of WMDF<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
December 2025 Meeting: Discussing the recent financial deficit and selecting international artists for our next project.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Information Disclosure<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Total Sponsorships (in Japan) and Donations to Date<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

1,851,000 JPY<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Updated on April 2, 2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last updated on April 4, 2026 A Year of Achievements \u2014 and One Serious Challenge Thanks to our audiences, artists, partners, and sponsors, the 2025 World Music and Dance Festival in Hakodate was a year of real progress, featuring: \u2713 A full seven-day festival program\u2713 Re-imagining cultural heritage sites, including the Jewel Box\u2713 Official mayoral open performance at Hakodate City Hall\u2713 Collaboration with the “Out of the Box” event\u2713 Automated bilingual festival signage\u2713 Popular new sponsor pass ticketing systems\u2713 Introduction of welcome drinks and special discounts\u2713 Increased audience attendance\u2713 Growth in both the range and sales of original merchandise\u2713 Increased beverage sales\u2713 Expanded number of sponsoring partners By almost every […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2266,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2268","page","type-page","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","post","post-with-thumbnail","post-with-thumbnail-large"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldsmeet.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldsmeet.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldsmeet.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldsmeet.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldsmeet.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2268"}],"version-history":[{"count":48,"href":"https:\/\/worldsmeet.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2268\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2376,"href":"https:\/\/worldsmeet.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2268\/revisions\/2376"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worldsmeet.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worldsmeet.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}