At Kurashiki Astronomical Observatory (commonly known as Kuraten), three events were held between late October and mid-December 2023.
- October 28: "Starry Halloween Event in Kuraten"
- November 25: "Kuraten Birthday Festival 2023"
- December 16: "Starry! Kuraten Final Christmas Event"
These events were planned and held by students from Okayama Prefectural Kurashiki Commercial High School, divided into three teams: "Event Planning Team," "SNS Appeal Team," and "Information Dissemination Team."
We prepared while thinking together about what we could do to attract customers and ensure they enjoyed themselves. As a result, many people gathered, and Kuraten became lively.
We will introduce how we prepared for these events.
This article is a contribution by students from the "Regional Economic Research" course at Okayama Prefectural Kurashiki Commercial High School. It has been re-edited and published by Haretoco General Incorporated Association.
October 28: "Starry Halloween Event in Kuraten"
The first event was the "Starry Halloween Event in Kuraten," held on October 28, 2023.
The following opinions were expressed:
- Since it is an event held at the observatory, we want to do "something" related to stars and space.
- Since the event date is close to Halloween, we want to include Halloween elements.
- We want to set up things that stand out and look good in photos.
- We want to target elementary school students and preschoolers.
Therefore, we created a quiz rally related to stars, a photo spot decorated with a large space-themed painting, and a Halloween piñata.
A piñata is similar to a Japanese kusudama, a game where a container filled with candy is hung and broken with a stick. Since the target age is low, we made the quiz easy to understand and added furigana, and distributed flyers to elementary schools.
For food sales, after negotiating with vendors, the food truck "PAFFLE405" set up a stall.
November 25: "Kuraten Birthday Festival 2023"
The second event was the "Kuraten Birthday Festival 2023" on November 25, 2023.
November 21 marked the 97th birthday of Kuraten.
Based on the feedback after the first event, we adjusted the time each person could hit the piñata, creating a schedule that allowed both children and adults to participate, making it enjoyable for families.
In the food corner, we sold sweet potatoes from Okayama Prefectural Kurashiki Commercial High School. To prepare quickly on the day, we practiced an efficient cooking method in advance.
However, there were also areas for improvement in information dissemination...
Before the first event, we distributed flyers in front of JR Kurashiki Station, but they were not well received.
We thought this was because the people using the station did not match the target age for the event (elementary school students, preschoolers, and their parents), so for this event, we distributed flyers to kindergartens and neighborhoods near Kurashiki Astronomical Observatory.
As a result, more people came after seeing the flyers.
No matter how many people gather for an event, if the information dissemination is insufficient, people will not come.
We learned the importance of how to utilize information and the significance of information dissemination.
For this food sale, "Taiwan Castella Nakamuraya" set up a tent. The fluffy fruit sandwiches were very delicious.
December 16: "Starry! Kuraten Final Christmas Event"
The third event was the "Starry! Kuraten Final Christmas Event" on December 16.
As the name suggests, it was an event to feel the Christmas spirit, and we planned the following:
- Prepared Santa hats and reindeer headbands
- Decorated the venue with a slightly larger Christmas tree
- Workshop to create mini trees with yarn
The forecast for the day was light rain and low temperatures, so we called for indoor preparations and cold weather measures the day before, responding flexibly.
We expected fewer customers than the second event, but we motivated ourselves to do our best in preparation, and as a result, many customers came.
For this food sale, "SERI’S KITCHEN" and "T’s Kitchen YOTTE" set up food trucks.
Conclusion
Through the three events, we felt the difficulty of planning and managing events.
- Creating content suitable for the target age
- Utilizing flyers and social media for information dissemination
We learned that these two points are crucial for making an event that attracts many customers.
There were shortcomings due to insufficient preparation time and scheduling conflicts. However, we did our best as high school students.
We sincerely thank all the customers who participated.
Kurashiki Astronomical Observatory holds various events. The latest information is available on the website, so please do visit.
Additionally, we thank all the vendors who participated and kindly came to support our event despite being approached by high school students.
Information provided by: Students of Okayama Prefectural Kurashiki Commercial High School's Research Project "Exploring Local Economy"
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