FESTIVALS

Taking place in Old Sacramento and the Westfield Downtown Plaza, for years the festival has displayed the richness and diversity of many Pacific Rim cultures through cultural programs, entertainment, art, and food. The event also enhances the community's knowledge of Asian/Pacific Island cultures in a fun and positive environment.

The street fest is planned and staged by volunteers from more than 15 Asian Pacific community groups. Their goals are to broaden the awareness and understanding of the Asian Pacific heritage, to showcase the many positive contributions to the community at large, and to lend support to cultural endeavors in the form of grants and scholarships. 

Each year an aspect of Asian culture is featured as the theme of the festival. For the year 2011, the theme is "Spice."

"We live in a multicultural world. The Asian Pacific Rim is just a small part of such diversity, that we live today. Like the spices and herbs that we put on our food each country takes on a flavor of its own. Many groups of explorers of all ethnicity fought many centuries ago and discovered and traded many spices. Many lives were lost because of the spice wars and trade that they tried to get all for their own. Anywhere from Africa to Arabian traders, each one had their ultimate origin in Southeast Asia." -Randall Ishida

The program for this event can be downloaded from the website. Please visit the website for more info and a full listing of sponsors.