PechaKucha SJ/BH

PechaKucha’s – meaning “chit chat” in Japanese – presentation format shows 20 images, each for 20 seconds. In other words, presenters get 400 seconds to tell their story, with visuals guiding the way.

2026 Dates are:

  • Thursday, March 12 from 7 – 9 PM at the Box Factory in St. Joseph.
  • May, 2026
  • Friday, September 18 from 8:30 – 10:30 PM, outside at The Livery

Tickets can be purchased at the door.

This creative outlet began as nighttime get-togethers in Tokyo in 2003 by two renowned architects. Since then, three million people have attended PechaKucha events worldwide. Inspired by their desire to “talk less, show more,” Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Tokyo’s Klein-Dytham Architecture (KDA) created PechaKucha in February 2003 as a way to attract people to their experimental event space in Roppongi, Japan, and to enable young designers to meet, show their work, and exchange ideas in 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

PechaKucha, translated to “chit chat” in Japanese, is presentation format that shows 20 images that are 20 seconds each. Presenters get 400 seconds to tell their story in this format, with visuals guiding the way giving anyone a chance to present their recent project or passion. Astrid Klein and Mark Dytham of Tokyo’s Klein-Dytham Architecture (KDA) created PechaKucha in February 2003 as a way to attract people to their experimental event space in Roppongi, Japan, and to enable young designers to meet, show their work, and exchange ideas in 6 minutes and 40 seconds. Tokyo began hosting PK Nights, that lead to hundreds of other cities across the globe. As of April 2019, PechaKucha nights had been held in more than 1,142 cities worldwide and attended by more than 3 million people.

PechaKucha nights are organized by local passionate and enthusiastic people with backgrounds in many creative fields. Many cities often lack spaces where creative people can share their work, so PechaKucha is about exposing the hidden creativity in a city. PechaKucha St. Joeseph/Benton Harbor specifically brings Japan’s quick ‘chit-chat’ tradition and has been bringing local creatives centerstage since 2015. The event is held a few nights a year to share their special stories and network with other locals.

Interested? Contact: pechakuchaSJBH@gmail.com

Get the links to apply to be a presenter, follow the PK social media, and see when upcoming events are coming up on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pechakuchasjbh.