AsianFest features food, music and dance

Cooking secrets will be revealed, taste tests performed and recipes handed out.

It’s not an episode of a TV cooking show; it’s part of AsianFest, a celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month.

The event is a chance to look at Asian-American contributions and achievements, said Safe and Civil City Director Beverly Calender-Anderson. She said it is a fun and family-friendly way to hear music, see dance performances and eat food.

AsianFest  is at 10 a.m. to noon Saturday at Showers City Hall Atrium and Outdoor Stage.

IU’s Asian Culture Center, the City of Bloomington’s Safe and Civil City Program and the Bloomington Parks and Recreation Department collaborated for the event.

“One of the goals is to go beyond the Sample Gates and go beyond the campus,” said center director Melanie Castillo-Cullather.

The heritage month is in May, but the center is celebrating this weekend before students leave campus, said Mai-Lin Poon, a graduate assistant for the Asian Culture Center. She said the event is the center’s last of the year and  it is a chance to end with a “big bang.”

New to the event is artwork from the “I am an Ox, What About You?” art and poster contest for students in kindergarten to sixth grade. The contest encouraged students to express their views and draw the different Chinese zodiac signs. Both students and teachers can win prizes.

The Felix Chen Memorial Fund supported the contest, and the artwork will be displayed in the plaza. Winners will be announced Saturday.

The contest is a chance to give back to local elementary schools, Poon said.
Castillo-Cullather said the school with the most entries will win art supplies. The event is a way to engage the community and get people interested in Asian culture in an educational way, she said.

The event will also include information tables and performances. At the tables, people will have the opportunity to participate in crafts such as drawing calligraphy and making paper flowers, key chains and origami.

Additional tables will provide henna tattoos, caricatures, crafts from the Mathers Museum of World Cultures and information about IU’s Asian American Studies Program.

Members of the community and musicians and dancers from campus will perform folk songs from India and Indonesia, as well as traditional dances and a Taiji sword dance.

“It’s a really good day for families to come out and maybe pick up some culture along the way,” Calender-Anderson said.

The event, which started in 1999, is a chance to think about the history and contributions of Asian-Americans, said Castillo-Cullather.

One misconception is that all Asians fit into one category, but each culture is different, Poon said. The event teaches about Asian culture, she said.

“It’s a cultural learning experience,” said Poon. “It’s important to have as a kid, and you take that with you when you grow up.”