Origami Festival
This site is all about celebrating paper folding, so it’s only right that we highlight the various paper folding and origami related festivities that are held around the world.
Some of these are international days and events, and some are very local celebrations. There’s something here for everyone!
‘Origami Festival’ is also a book by Isao Honda, published in Japan in 1967. It’s a short colourful book aimed at younger folders and you can see all of its pages at David Mitchell’s venerable OrigamiHeaven.com
Origami Festivals Around the World
International Origami Day & World Origami Days
November 11 / October 24 – November 11
We love Origami Day and this whole site started with that premise. The November 11 celebration started in Japan in 1980 as a national event. It has since spread to be a more global celebration and has also been made into the grand finale of the World Origami Days celebration started by OrigamiUSA.
November 11 is now celebrated by origami lovers throughout the world with a variety of paper folding activities, not unlike many of the other festivals in this list.
National Paper Airplane Day
May 26
This is a day declared in the USA to celebrate the common flying paper toy in all its simple and complex forms. It’s May 26 date is approximately timed to coincide with the end of the school year for many children and the beginning of summer.
How do you celebrate it? Make paper airplanes, of course! And paper airplane competitions are held in some places by the hard core enthusiasts.
It’s technically a country-specific celebration but with social media it has spread beyond. Also, paper airplanes deserves a celebration in my book.
Regional Origami Festivals
Żarów Origami Festival
Poland
This is an annual, themed National Origami Festival held in Żarów, Poland. Running for 14 years, so this must be fun!
Seoul Origami Festival
South Korea
Featuring exhibits, activities and workshops, this 5-day festival was held in January in Yongsan iPark Mall in Seoul, South Korea in 2026.
Houston International Origami and Arts Festival
Houston, USA
In 2024 it was single large event held at the PlazAmericas Mall in August. Founded by Kyle Fu, the event has more recently transitioned to a more distributed model, with activities as part of other events throughout the year.
… and probably more Japanese paper folding related events and festivals than we can name, but we will try at some point.
Paper Celebrations and Fringe Festivals
Origami Festival
Australia
A garden party, music festival and immersive art experience night held in April in the Edogawa Japanese Gardens at the Gosford Regional Gallery in East Gosford.
To be fair, it is subtitled “Folding Art & Sound” and Origami seems to be more loosely in the title and setting. Even the kids component of this festival appears to be more of a music, lights and costume event, but we are guessing origami gets featured tangentially at least.
World Paper Day
November 1
Established as a celebration of the paper industry and the many uses of paper at the Paperex Exhibition, 2017.
World Paper Bag Day
July 12
Commemorates the invention of mechanised paper bag production, first by Francis Wolle in 1852, with improvements made by Margaret E. Knight in 1871.
World Paper Free Day
November 6
More of an anti-paper day, in theory, celebrating paper-free workflows and digital transformations as an environmental action. But it also celebrates recycling and up-cycling of paper waste, so I think it has it’s place here.
National Paper Day
August 1 | India
Commemorates the establishment of The Handmade Paper Institute (HMPI) in Pune in 1940, supported by Jawaharlal Nehru and inspired by Gandhi’s Swadeshi movement. It is now a popular paper industry event and a general celebration of sustainability and craft in paper making.
Have fun exploring, and hopefully participating in all these events, especially if some of them are local to you. I’d love to hear about your experience and feel free to share a festival anywhere in the world that should be added to the list. Drop a message to @Papernautic on Instagram.
