One idea, if we could get the devs to tell us when they are about to open one of the doors (those gaint ones, that have me going crazy trying to figure out what's going to be behind them), we could have the festival right after they open it.
You're going to have to wait a long time..

No Dsars are in development at the moment, so unless you're going to put Ojafest on hold for half a year, you might want to skip this idea for now.
Acting though, there's a thought! How about plays, comedy skits, reenactments? We have a lot of comedy actors in the community. It'd be fun to let some of them take the stage :} Poetry and drama can be saved for another time - when you're meant to have fun, no better way than to produce laughter.
How about eating contests? Sure, it'll depend on people's systems and perhaps lag, but hey, it's something to do and it'll be amusing regardless. Even if it's affected by some OOC factors, it's not the end of the world. Let's get out those fortune tellers, dancers, merchants with their goods, special effects mages ;} Does pet following work? How about mini pet races?