Redwood Empire Bonsai Society announces August show and hands-on workshop
Redwood Empire Bonsai Society has set August 22-23 for its George Haas Annual Bonsai Show, plus a $50 BYOT workshop with Sam Tan on Sunday morning.
The Redwood Empire Bonsai Society is giving Sonoma-area bonsai readers a clear reason to mark the calendar now: the 2026 George Haas Annual Bonsai Show will run August 22 and 23 at the Rohnert Park Community Center in California, with a hands-on Bring Your Own Tree workshop layered onto the weekend.
The workshop is the most actionable piece of the announcement. Scheduled for Sunday, August 23, from 9:00 a.m. to noon, the BYOT session with Sam Tan is priced at $50 per person and will be limited in size. That format turns the show from a display-only stop into a chance to work directly on a tree with an instructor, which is the kind of focused opportunity many bonsai artists look for when they want more than passive viewing.
That matters for anyone who wants practical instruction, not just a stroll past specimens. The workshop is designed for attendees who want hands-on styling time with their own tree, making it a natural fit for members who already have material they want to refine and for newer practitioners ready to move from observation to actual work. With Sam Tan leading the session, the emphasis is on direct participation, not just watching techniques from the back of a room.
The society’s April 24 website update also makes the planning side easy to read. Bob Shimon is listed as the show chair and contact, giving the announcement a concrete point of coordination for anyone organizing a visit, planning to register, or preparing material for the workshop. That kind of early notice gives the local bonsai calendar room to breathe, with several months to line up travel, prepare trees, and make a spot in the weekend schedule.
The show itself remains the anchor, but the workshop gives the event a stronger pull for active practitioners. Instead of simply attending an exhibition, visitors will have a path into instruction and direct work, which is exactly the kind of club programming that keeps a bonsai community moving from appreciation to practice.
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