The 13th Annual Plano AsiaFest will be celebrated in downtown Plano’s Haggard Park on Saturday May 7, from 10am to 5pm. A free event, Plano’s AsiaFest has grown over the last 12 years, both in stature and numbers, to acquire the status of an icon in multicultural Plano.
The dazzling expos of various Asian cultures will feature demonstrations of different disciplines of martial arts. Performers will showcase the dance forms of India, the Philippines, China, Vietnam, Indonesia and other Asian countries. Drums and various ethnic musical instruments will be played. Haggard Park will be a sea of color with ethnic costumes. Area restaurants will set up stalls with ethnic food.
A fair percentage of performers – dancers, drummers, martial arts artists – are non-Asian Americans whose interest or curiosity has led them to acquire these skills.
It is a fact that first generation immigrants tend to congregate with each other. Such groups look inwards. The second generation Asian Americans understand their dual heritage, but have few outlets for its expression. Such gaps in the social fabric of Plano’s multicultural diversity led to the founding of the Celebrating Asian American Heritage Foundation, a non-profit, all-volunteer organization. The objectives of CAAHF are four-fold:
– to create opportunities for the inwardly-looking groups of first generation immigrants to open up and integrate
– to give the second generation Asian Americans an occasion to participate in and exhibit their dual heritage
– to set a stage for the diverse communities of Plano to come together and interact at various levels
– to reflect the desire of the Asian community to contribute to and enrich the cultural life of their community
The Plano Asian American Heritage Festival, or AsiaFest as it has come to be known, is held every year during May, which President George Bush designated as the Asian/Pacific Heritage month in 1990.
AsiaFest is supported the Mayor, the City Council and the Plano Cultural Affairs Commission. It is sponsored by the City of Plano and local area businesses.
Spectators are assured a spectacle befitting Hollywood extravaganzas considering the number of countries that will be represented at the fest: China, India, Japan, Taiwan, Korea, Vietnam, Bangladesh, The Philippines, and possibly Nepal, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
AsiaFest Website >[codepeople-post-map]
