克城消息

9th Cleveland Asian Festival Continues Mission to Grow AsiaTown

   The 9th Annual Cleveland Asian Festival held May 19-20 was another success as it continues to put a spotlight on Cleveland's thriving AsiaTown neighborhood. The all-volunteer run Festival included 25+ authentic Asian food and drink vendors (10 were new), two performance stages, over 100 exhibitors and vendors, a Health Pavilion with free screenings to service the neighborhood, an Activities Pavilion with games and attractions, and a free Lolley the Trolley tour of AsiaTown. The Festival highlights all Asian cultures and attracts a very diverse crowd from local Clevelanders, regional foodies, and even some who traveled from Nebraska and Japan just to attend the Festival. The Festival was voted #1 Best Festival in the Cleveland Hot List 2015 and has been in the top five since. The national act this year was L.A. vocalist Larissa Lam and hip-hop artist Only Won, who gave two uplifting mini-concerts to energize the crowd.
   Some popular events included the Kwan Family Lion Dance, the OCA Cleveland Dragon Dance Team, many excellent cultural performances, exciting martial arts demonstrations, and Colors of Asia fashion show. A fan favorite event, the egg roll speed eating contest was made more exciting this year when Daisuke Miyagawa, host of one of the most popular shows in Japan entered the contest and he and his film crew of 8 traveled to Cleveland to film his exploits at the Festival. The very popular Asian-Pop Dance competition returned this year as well, with the top three winners receiving a total of $3500 in cash prizes. New this year was the Festival Pop-up Contest that focused on providing assistance to small businesses that are relevant to the neighborhood - the winner was CHIMU a retailer specializing in authentic attire from Africa that was provided a variety of business assistance and a booth at the Festival's World Marketplace.
    The Cleveland Asian Festival is made possible by the partnerships of many of Cleveland's best organizations, generous sponsors, over 200 volunteers, and the many vendors and exhibitors. Next year, the 10 Anniversary Festival will be May 18-19, 2019, when the organizers continue to mission of growing AsiaTown, uniting Cleveland's Asian community, celebrating APA Heritage Month in May, and sharing Asian culture with Everyone! by Wayne Wong