Vietnamese lion dancers dressed in fiery red and yellow costumes carried a massive paper mache head as they traversed the Mall at Pierce College on Saturday, kicking off the 3rd Annual Valley Asian & Pacific Islander Cultural Festival.
Following the lion dance, dozens of other performers ranging in age from kindergarteners to adults showcased their musical and rhythmic talents at the festival. The performances included a fast-paced barrel drum song, as well as the Korean “Buchaechum” fan dance, put on by seven teenage girls adorned with intricate pink head accessories.
“I really like showing my culture to the audience,” 15-year-old fan dancer Klaire Kim said. “I like sharing it with them so they can appreciate it, and when I’m up there, it’s a lot of fun. I’m just reminding myself, ‘You can do this. You can do this. Remember to smile.’”
The event brought in hundreds of attendees throughout the day allowing San Fernando Valley residents to learn about various Asian and Pacific Islander communities and eat foods such as sushi and tikka masala. More than 50 local businesses and organizations were involved in the festival, offering photo booths, lantern craft stations and henna art.
Cultures involved in the event included Chinese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Japanese, Native Hawaiian, Indian, Pacific Islander and Taiwanese.
“It’s important for people to connect, especially in the past few years, when there’s been a lot of anti-Asian hate,” said Joe Arciaga, one of the festival’s co-chairs. “Part of that is, people don’t understand each other or know how each other live. Hopefully, the more people know about one another’s cultures, the less they’ll be misunderstood.”
Arciaga said that being able to organize the festival this year “warms my heart” and he hopes it helps reduce hate. According to Stop AAPI Hate Center, more than 10,000 hate incidents against Asian Americans were reported during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic alone.
The festival was sponsored by the West Valley Warner Center Chamber of Commerce, as part of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month this May.
Los Angeles City Councilmember Bob Blumenfield also attended the event, which was held within the council district he represents.
“This festival honors our Asian and Pacific Islander [communities] locally, here in the San Fernando Valley,” Blumenfield said. “I’m thrilled to be a part of it.”
Pierce bioinformatics major Ruqaiyah Nagarwala had a booth set up at the event, allowing her to promote her four-year-old business doing South Asian henna art.
“I thought the event would be perfect for my business,” Nagarwala said. “There are so many cultures represented here and it’s been great to meet everyone and spread the word.”
Sally Goya, who is Hawaiian, ran a booth educating attendees about various Pacific Islander and Polynesian traditions.
“A lot of people don’t understand much about the different island cultures,” Goya said. “Especially in this world today, we want people to know about the different communities that are out there. We’re here to share some ‘Aloha’ with everyone.”
