Photo Courtesy of Asian Festival on Main
A celebration of food and culture coming to Main Street Fairfax
BY ALEXIS MCCAFFREY, STAFF WRITER
The Asian Festival on Main is a new festival that is happening just blocks away from Mason and it is an awesome event for students to attend. It is a festival that aims to bring people together and celebrate cultural diversity through food and entertainment, set to take place from 12pm to 6pm on Sunday May 15.
“This fun, free, family-friendly event with more than 30 Asian food vendors serving culinary delights and a variety of performances. This year’s host and emcee will be Elaine Espinola, local actor, podcast host, and 2015 Mrs. District of Columbia,” said Jinson Chan, a board member of the Old Town Fairfax Business Association and the owner of the restaurant High Side.
The foods served at the festival varies across all Asian cuisines, offering a little bit of everything to suit anyone’s palate.
Chan dove into some of the offerings: “Thai street food and drinks, Himalayan dumplings, Steam Bao buns, and rice bowls, authentic Filipino food, Asian fusion, supersize Musubis and other yummy Hawian inspired foods, Indian street food, Deep-fried Watermelon done Filipino Kwek-Kwek style, Taiyakis – which are essentially a Japanese waffle that comes in the shape of a fish, with a variety of Asian inspired fillings – authentic Pad Thai, Drunken Noodles, Asian styled gilled chicken, and lastly, the best selling signature item from Filipino/Soul food fusion pop-up restaurant MarylandChickAn in Manila, Philippines.”
Some performances that will be displayed at the festival are Filipino hip hop, Chinese lion dance, K-pop, Indian dance, Japanese Classical/Folk dancing, Chinese ribbon dance, and more!
“This festival is an opportunity to enjoy and experience the rich colorful Asian Pacific culture in a safe, supportive space through performances, arts and crafts, food and tradition. When the event committee was planning for this year’s event, it was important to us to host it in May, during Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month,” said Chan.
Although masks are not required precautions are still taken to ensure a safe environment for everyone.
“There is no way to ensure zero risk when attending events and gatherings, however, our event is entirely outdoors and we have doubled the size of the event from last year so there is more room to spread out. There will also be hand sanitizer available. We do ask attendees that if they feel they have symptoms, a positive test, or were recently exposed to COVID-19 (within 14 days) prior to the event to not attend,” said Chan.
As the tickets are free for all attendees, the festival is funded by sponsors and donors.
“We honored to have a variety of sponsors dedicated to highlighting Asian culture including City of Fairfax, Amazon, Asians of Amazon, Main Street Bank, Patient First, Glassey, Blue Sky Distillery, Chap Petersen & Associates, Cool Contours Body Sculpting, Drunk Fruit, High Side, Jae Kim MD, Maryland Live, Ox Hill Realty, Sandy Spring Bank, Sang Yi, Studio One, Amini Boane,” said Chan.
“We are also excited to partner this year with Asian American Youth Leadership Empowerment and Development (AALED), a non-proft organization that supports low-income and underserved Asian American & Pacific Islander youth with educational empowerment, identity development, and leadership opportunities through after school, summer and mentoring programs,” Chan continued.
Keep up with the Asian Festival on Main through social media.
