Yolanda Grigsby endured the long food lines and crowded lunch areas Saturday but judged her first trip to the annual Japanese Food and Cultural Bazaar a big success.

"It was worth the wait," the Rocklin resident said as she enjoyed her vegetable and shrimp tempura lunch. "I'm having a wonderful time."

Some 25,000 to 35,000 local residents and visitors are expected to attend the Sacramento Buddhist Church's 65th annual festival, which concludes today and is one of the larger annual ethnic celebrations in the region.

The event – which showcases much of the traditional food, music, dance and art of the local Japanese American community – has become a major attraction for the Sacramento region, drawing attendees and volunteers from the Bay Area and beyond.

Florida resident Fran Muller joined her longtime friend, Helen Casey of Citrus Heights, for her first visit to the festival and came away impressed by its organization.

"We have a lot of ethnic festivals in Florida, but nothing like this," Muller said.

The bazaar boasts more than 700 volunteers and about half a dozen live musical and dance acts, including performances by two different taiko drum troupes.

The food alone is a huge undertaking.

Volunteers will barbecue, fry or roast roughly 10,000 pounds of chicken, 1,500 pounds of beef and 400 pounds of shrimp over the weekend, said Sherman Iida, bazaar chairman.

Organizers plan to cook more than 3,000 pounds of rice for sushi and plan to sell about 500 pounds of chow mein and somen noodles.

Proceeds support the Buddhist church's operations, supplying as much as a third of the organization's annual budget.

Last year's event attracted a record 35,000 people. Based on what Iida saw Saturday afternoon, he believes that it's going to be another good year.

"We judge our event by how long the lines are for tempura and chicken, and right now they're pretty long," he said.

According to Iida, the cultural bazaar traces its roots to 1946.

Back then, most of the Japanese Americans living in Sacramento had spent time at internment camps and didn't have much. The Buddhist church, then located downtown, was one of the few places where Japanese Americans gathered and socialized.

The bazaar began as a low-key event but expanded as the local Japanese American community – and the greater Sacramento community – grew after World War II.

Many families involved in the bazaar's early days are still playing a vital role.

Mollie Oto, whose family runs Oto's Marketplace on Freeport Boulevard, and Grace Hatano, a longtime Oto's employee, have volunteered at the bazaar for more than 35 years.

Three generations of the Oto family – including Mollie's daughter Florence Oto-Wong, daughter-in-law Janet Oto and grandsons Kyle Wong and Mason Oto – helped out this year, making traditional Japanese mochi (rice cake) and sweet azuki bean pastries.

"These volunteers keep coming back each year," Iida said. "You don't even have to ask them to help."

© Copyright The Sacramento Bee. All rights reserved.

Call The Bee's Rick Daysog, (916) 321-1207.

• Read more articles by Rick Daysog