Springfield Sister Cites Association brings multicultural artists and performers to Springfield for festivals and special events and also works hard to connect those guest artists into the public education network.

For the 2012 17th annual Japanese Fall Festival, the Isesaki Festival committee contracted with the New York Japanese Folk Dance Association to bring a new feature to the festival — Shi Shi Mai, also known as traditional Japanese Lion Dance. Today, the Shi Shi Mai Lion visited Jefferies and Watkins Elmentary Schools for performances at school assemblies.

Photos by Mika Logan