Does a 'Fun End-of-Life Festival' Belong on Respect for the Aged Day?

Earlier in the week when I was updating my website's event list for September, I came across a very jarring event title: "Fun End-of-Life Festival". It instantly made me feel uncomfortable as I thought it was very inappropriate. That was my knee-jerk reaction, so to speak. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that taking some of the discomfort and taboo out of discussions about end-of-life isn't necessarily a bad thing.

I'm still conflicted though, as it feels unnecessarily confronting to have it on "Respect for the Aged Day". As if to say, 'Well, this is your future, let's celebrate'. The purpose of the event is to make end-of-life planning more approachable and practical. At the "festival" there are exhibitor booths, stage events and educational seminars. Exhibitor booths include such things as funeral services and inheritance support companies. How very morbid.

It feels like this festival is sabotaging the true meaning of Respect for the Aged Day. Then again, perhaps that reaction is exactly why events like this exist in the first place. If discussing ageing, illness, inheritance, and death still feels uncomfortable, maybe that suggests we need to talk about them more openly rather than less. Even so, I can't shake the feeling that Respect for the Aged Day should be about celebrating older people and the lives they have lived, not encouraging visitors to think about funeral plans and end-of-life arrangements.

While I can appreciate the festival's intentions, the timing feels oddly misplaced. Instead of honoring age and experience, it risks shifting the focus to what comes next, and that's a contrast I still find difficult to reconcile.