Photo : Maïa Barouh Instagram
Halloween // Yōkai Matsuri Festival - The Grand Final Ritual
To conclude its first edition, Yōkai Matsuri, the "strange Japanese festival," opens the breach between worlds one last time for an exceptional day and night under the sign of the yōkai.
La Petite Halle (Paris 19th)
About
Inspired by matsuri, the popular Japanese festivals, and the fascinating world of yōkai — spirits and creatures from Japanese folklore —, the festival blends ancestral traditions, contemporary creation, and alternative scenes into a grand, festive, and quirky collective celebration.
On Saturday, October 31st, Halloween night, the passage between worlds opens and the boundary between the visible and the invisible fades.
Unleash the yōkai sleeping within you!
Costumes, masks, and creatures invade La Petite Halle for a celebration orchestrated by Maïa Barouh, founder of the festival, who envisions Yōkai Matsuri as a meeting space between Japanese traditions, contemporary creation, and celebration.
From 11 am, access is free to wander between Japanese stalls, workshops, creations, performances, and yōkai appearances, and to start your metamorphosis before the evening festivities.
At 6:30 pm, it's time for the grand yōkai costume contest: fantastic creatures, monsters, spirits, supernatural animals, or totally free inventions... The most inspired yōkai will be rewarded and could win tickets for the evening and other surprises.
At 8 pm, the great yōkai parade will set off, led by the Vespa Cougourdon Ourchestra, an amazing brass band with instruments fashioned from gourds. Beside them will emerge the Nekomata, dancers and creatures at the crossroads of feline and specter.
The night will continue with Flor Mata, a resolutely queer figure with flamboyant theatricality, who mixes hybrid pop and electronic music in a strange and cinematic universe.
The marvelous drag queens Satō Madjo and Brocco Lee Cockine will also join the ritual for performances celebrating metamorphosis, freedom, and playing with appearances.
DJ Mask will accompany the crossing between worlds with selections blending Japanese gems, electro, and danceable rhythms, to take humans and spirits on a journey until the end of the night.
Costumes highly encouraged.
For Halloween, unleash the yōkai that is in you!
Here, monsters aren't scary… they set you free!
PROGRAM & ARTISTS
🎭 Unleash the yōkai sleeping within you!
On October 31st, the public becomes a full actor in the festival. Everyone is invited to come costumed, masked, or transformed, to invent their own creature, and to take part in the great yōkai parade.
MAÏA BAROUH
An artist bridging France and Japan, traditions and underground cultures, Maïa Barouh draws from ancestral Japanese chants and folklore to confront them with rap, jazz, electro, and contemporary music.
Singer, flutist, author, and composer, she makes her voice and flute dialogue in a singular universe, between groove, trance, poetry, and raw energy.
At the origin of Yōkai Matsuri, she will be, for this Grand Final Ritual, the mistress of ceremonies: appearing throughout the happenings, she will guide the public between performances, rituals, and metamorphoses, like a living passage between worlds.
VESPA COUGOURDON OURCHESTRA
A singular brass band whose instruments are entirely fashioned from gourds, reconnecting with the spirit of old Occitan carnival orchestras.
Eleven musicians, a unique instrumentarium, and a trance music nourished by the Occitan carnival, Kinshasa, New Orleans, and the Mediterranean.
Raw energy, intoxicating rhythms, and joyful chaos: Vespa Cougourdon Ourchestra will lead the grand procession and drag humans and yōkai through the aisles of La Petite Halle.
FLOR MATA
FLOR MATA is a velvet voice in a casing of hybrid pop and electronic music. A resolutely queer figure, her theatricality seems straight out of a Fellini film, while her music navigates between Björk's strange pop and James Blake's textured electro.
A cinematic universe tinged with nostalgia and delicious vertigo.
THE NEKOMATA
Inspired by the famous Japanese cat-yōkai, the Nekomata are ritual dancers and creatures at the crossroads of feline and specter.
Mysterious and elusive, they will emerge throughout the festival to accompany the parade, inhabit spaces, and drag the public into a world where the boundary between humans, animals, and spirits blurs.
SATŌ MADJO
Sweet and evil, Satō Madjo has been roaming drag stages since 2019, from Paris to Tokyo. Between great French chanson divas and international pop hits, she deploys a quirky universe carried by precise choreography and a magnetic presence.
Perched on her high heels, she comes to bewitch the ritual with humor, glamour, and extravagance.
BROCCO LEE COCKINE
Brocco Lee Cockine is a vitaminized, fresh, glittery, and green drag… like broccoli. But sometimes also vintage, strange, and deliciously rotten, like a pickle forgotten at the back of the fridge.
A Japanese drag queen based in Bordeaux, she cultivates a crazy and international energy, between quirky performances, humor, and an assumed taste for the unpredictable.
DJ MASK
DJ and co-founder of the 180g label, which works to highlight the Japanese musical scene of yesterday and today, DJ Mask takes us on a musical journey to the Land of the Rising Sun.
Through jazz, wamono (Japanese groove), afrobeat, cumbia, and other unexpected gems, his selections reveal all the richness of an abundant Japanese scene.
A borderless, curious, and generous DJ set, perfectly tailored to make yōkai dance until the end of the night.
👹 THE GRAND YŌKAI COSTUME CONTEST
Fantastic creatures, monsters, spirits, supernatural animals, or totally free inventions: the public is invited to imagine their own yōkai.
Join us at 6:30 pm for the grand costume contest: the most inspired yōkai will be rewarded and could win tickets for the evening and other surprises.
Our take on this event
Forget standard ghosts and ghouls; it is time for a dive into the captivating world of Japanese spirits and folklore. Throw on your boldest costume and get ready to celebrate in a place where mystical traditions collide with electrifying performances and non-stop energy.
On Saturday, October 31, 2026, La Petite Halle in the 19th arrondissement hosts the Yōkai Matsuri Festival - The Final Grand Ritual. From 11:00 to 02:00, this event celebrates Japanese folklore through a fusion of ancestral traditions and contemporary performances. Attendees are encouraged to dress as mythical spirits and creatures to participate in this festive gathering. Organized by Maïa Barouh, the program features parades, drag shows, and electronic music. Entry prices range from 0 to 18 euros depending on the activities. Join this collective metamorphosis where the visible meets the invisible in a unique, vibrant atmosphere.
Experience a deep dive into the world of Japanese spirits at The Final Grand Ritual. Conceived by artist Maïa Barouh, the festival turns La Petite Halle into a hub for creativity, mixing tradition with underground culture. Starting at 11:00, guests can browse Japanese stalls, attend workshops, and enjoy various performances. The highlight of the evening includes a costume contest at 18:30 for the most inspired creatures, followed at 20:00 by a grand parade featuring the Vespa Cougourdon Ourchestra, whose instruments are crafted from gourds, accompanied by the mysterious Nekomata dancers.
The energy continues into the night with hybrid pop performances by Flor Mata and drag acts by Satō Madjo and Brocco Lee Cockine, celebrating freedom and transformation. DJ Mask will provide the soundtrack for the night, blending Japanese gems with electronic rhythms until 02:00. Attendees are encouraged to arrive in their most creative costumes to fully embrace the spirit of the event.
Tickets are priced between 0 and 18 euros. This event is a unique opportunity to explore the blurred lines between humans and spirits in an immersive, theatrical setting, bringing together diverse musical influences ranging from jazz to electro.
