The National Asian Heritage Festival -Fiesta Asia is a street fair held in Washington, DC in celebration of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. The event showcases Asian art and culture with a wide array of activities including live performances by musicians, vocalists and performance artists, Pan-Asian cuisine, martial arts and lion dance demonstration, a multicultural marketplace, cultural displays and interactive activities.
Date and Times
May 19, 2012
10 a.m. – 7 p.m.
Location
Pennsylvania Avenue, NW between 3rd & 6th St.
Washington, DC
The closest Metro stations are National Archives/Navy Memorial and Judiciary Square
See Photos of Fiesta Asia
2012 Asian Heritage Festival Highlights
- Entertainment and activities featuring five stages, five zones, over eight hundred participants and seventy diverse performing groups from over twenty cultures.
- Fiesta AsiaMOVES: DANZZAPALOOZA is calling for a thousand hands to dance street style spontaneously to Akon’s hip Asian number “Chammak Challo”.
- A new stage is added this year – Fiesta Asia Acoustic Lounge will showcase talented performers and conducts live auditions for KollaborationDC Asian American Talent Competition in the fall.
- Ronald McDonald will visit the Kiddiz Cool Lounge that is packed with creative craft stations.
- A new All @ Dragon Lair features the Fiesta Asia Dragon.
- The Foodtastic! Station will present cooking demonstrations and live participatory lessons.
For more information, visit
www.asiaheritagefoundation.org.
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month is celebrated in May to commemorate the contributions of people of Asian and Pacific Islander descent in the United States. During the month, Asian Americans around the nation celebrate with community festivals, government-sponsored activities, and educational activities for students. Congress passed a joint Congressional Resolution in 1978 to commemorate Asian American Heritage Week during the first week of May. This date was chosen because two important anniversaries occurred during this time: the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants in America on May 7, 1843 and the completion of the transcontinental railroad (by many Chinese laborers) on May 10, 1869. Congress later voted to expand it from a week long to a month long celebration. According to the 2000 Census Bureau, the Asian-American community is the fastest growing group in the DC Metro Area. Over the last decade, the number of Asians who have relocated to the DC area has increased by approximately 30 percent.
