The sound of Japanese drums and the smell of fresh Japanese food drew the crowds to Rotorua's Village Green where the second annual Japanese Festival was being held.
More than 100 people of all ages enjoyed the games, food and activities set up at the event thisafternoon.
Festival organiser Mika Squibb said there were a lot more people this year than they had expected.
"There have been a lot of people here, so that's a great success.
"We have been blessed with the weather and the support we have received from the community."
She said it seemed like everybody had been enjoying themselves.
"We were surprised by the turnout, but the whole event is just getting bigger."
Te Arana Takiari had made the most of the family day out bringing her mum Mary-Anne Tamati-Westhead and three daughters Eriana, 4, Te Arani, 1, and Wikitoria, 12 weeks.
"It's awesome for the kids, to have a change to play all the games, they made slime and had a play on the bouncy castle," Takiari said.
Tamati-Westhead, who is visiting from Cromwell, said she had not seen anything like this at home.
"It's been awesome, lots of things for the kids to do.
Eriana said her favourite part of the day was making slime, which "wasn't actually very hard".
Priscilla Te Hau was driving to the park with her 2-year-old grandson when they saw the festival.
"It's so lovely, it's always lovely learning about and celebrating other cultures.
"We tried on the kimonos, enjoyed the yummy food, and he got to play on the Japanese drums."
She said it had been a good day out for the family.