The Asian Cultural Festival

As mentioned earlier, we wanted to see the Asian Cultural Festival at the NTC Park in Liberty Station. May is Asian Pacific Heritage Month. Apparently, this is the fourth year of this festival, but the first time I've ever heard of it.

Since we didn't walk in the right direction and didn't feel like looking for it earlier (the food won out, ha ha), we kind of put it on the back burner while we enjoyed our day with lunch (except for the pizza), dessert and even more dessert! Kirbie went back home while I drove down the street to see if I could find this festival, which I did. It was near these Gun Platforms...

which used to be on an old battleship, but are now displayed at the park...


Further up was a walkway with black granite plaques...

each featuring a different battleship and those who served and died.

I just wanted to check out what was there. Too bad I already ate, because otherwise, I would have had some of their offerings.  As you can see with the following photos, there was a wide variety of typical festival booths (popcorn, cotton candy, ice cream, etc), and almost every Asian food imaginable (I didn't see Korean though).

Here were the food booths:

I was surprised (but happy) to see Filipino food represented. I still haven't eaten at Zarlito's in National City. I hear that they are open pretty late too.

This booth had Lao sausage! Man, I would have gladly eaten here! Kirbie, next year, ok?!?

It was also nice to see National City based Niederfrank's here. They sometimes offer "Asian" flavors like CocoJack (coconut and jackfruit) and green tea. I didn't check out what flavors they had that day, but seeing the booth made me happy.



Here's another booth with Lao food! It had a long line.

One of the stages had cultural entertainment. This was the group Naruwan Taiko (wow, were those taiko drums LOUD!)! I watched them for a few minutes before continuing my way down the food booths walkway.



See the yellow both? That person walked in front of the damn sign, which I was trying to take a picture of.

Okay, here it is, view unecumbered. I thought this was kind of a mean looking chicken!

More snacks...

There were a lot of people that day, but it wasn't uncomfortably crowded. The park was quite large and provided a nice long walk between the food booths, stages, and the vendor booths.

More food...

and more entertainment!

Many of the booths were cultural in nature, from various Asian organizations, businesses, and folks selling crafts. I noticed the booths had educational materials to give out to passer bys. This is a great idea, especially for those with young children. We used to love bringing TC to these types of events when she was younger (Well, we still do, but not as often as we used to).

The lovely and talented Patricia Justiniani McReynolds was manning the House of the Philippines table.

She's such an interesting and smart lady.  I can't believe she's in her mid 80's. She is the author of "Almost Americans - A Quest for Dignity" which is her autobiography and details her life as a bi-racial child in the 1930's (her father was a Philippine immigrant; her mother was Norwegian), her experiences with racism and discrimination as well as her search for her roots on both sides of her ethnic heritage. I met her 15+ years ago during community work and had the pleasure of interviewing her her book was first released.

The wooden carvings on the table depict dancers performing the Tinikling, the national dance of the Philippines. TC learned that dance in first grade and still knows how to do it. As for me, uh....NO. My feet would get clapped and smashed by those bamboo poles, ha ha!

Ah, I see the "Filipinos in San Diego" book as well (co-authored by friends, Dr. Judy Patacsil, Prof. Felix Tuyay, and Dr. Rudy Guevarra, Jr.).Here are some previous posts on the book launches...
At Balboa Park, House of the Philippines - September 2010
At Southwestern College - October 2010
At Miramar College - March 2011

And there is Pat's book too!

It was nice seeing someone I knew there. Another friend would end up coming later to man the table, but I wouldn't be sticking around for that.  I thought the festival had great selection of food  and good entertainment. There was plenty of space to roam around and lots of free parking too! It included many of the major Asian Pacific cultures and there was something to please everyone who wanted to learn something new. It was also nice seeing so many people enjoying the day and the festival.

More info:
The Asian Cultural Festival

I hope to catch this event again next year and will plan on having lunch there!