By Tam Nguyen, NGUOI VIET
Cutting of the ribbon to mark the start of the festival. Photo by Tam Nguyen. Dragon dance performing during the opening ceremony. Photo by Tam Nguyen. Dancers from Hawaii performed during the opening ceremony. Photo by Tam Nguyen. One of the food vendors cooking okonomiyaki. Photo by Tam Nguyen. Finished product of okonomiyaki. Photo by Tam Nguyen.
NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. ― Talk about opening with a bang.
Between the fireworks and a dragon dance, the first ever Asian Pacific Festival held this weekend at Newport Dunes Waterfront Resort & Marina got off to a rousing start. The food and entertainment flowed throughout the two-day festival held, in part, to mark Tet Trung Thu, or the mid-autumn moon festival.
The Asian Pacific Festival presented the cultures of eight Asian nations: Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Philippines and India.
The theme of the festival, which fit in with the waterfront location, was “Arts & Music by the Sea.” Mai Bui, the Asian Pacific Festival entertainment director, said arts and music have the power to unite the Asian community, as well as to enrich children’s abilities to express themselves and spark their creativity.
Two stages of live entertainment, from dancing to singing to an exhibition of martial arts, showed off the creativity of the Asian cultures. Among the highlights of the festival were the Miss Asian Pacific Pageant, which featured 18 pre-selected participants representing different Asian nations, and the Hip-Hop Dance Competition. More than 400 dancers took part.
Children crowded the Kids Village, where they learned about arts and crafts from the nations and stopped to get their faces painted. And while the line for face painting grew by the minute, nowhere was the line longer than for okonomiyaki, a Japanese dish that resembles a pancake garnished with a concoction of cabbage, Japanese yams, eggs and flour mixed together. Attendees waited a half-hour just to place their orders, then another 10 minutes for preparation.
The festival was put together in less than four months and privately funded. More than 300 staff members and volunteers worked long hours to make it happen. Some of the proceeds of the tickets sales went to Asians for Miracle Marrow Matches.
Sunday’s closing ceremony ended with the lighting of the paper lanterns, a flower dance and a dragon dance to celebrate Tet Trung Thu. Banh Trung Thu, or mooncakes, also were handed out to fairgoers to celebrate the event. The moon festival dates back as far as 20,000 years in Southeast Asia and is held usually in the eighth lunar month. The moon festival is one of the two most popular festivals in Vietnam.
And Bui hopes to make its profile increasingly popular in Orange County, too.
“I hope you enjoyed our Asian Pacific Festival of Arts & Music , and we’ll see you again in 2014,” Bui said.
