Click image for bigger picture

Dragon Boat Festival "2001" - Proudly Pan-Asian
By Gil Asakawa
August 22, 2001

< 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 >

Click image for bigger picture

The riches were in abundance on the stage at Dragon Boat Festival 2001, where I was fortunate enough to be one of the emcees along with Mary Monzon of AT&T and Whei Wong, a reporter for Fox News 31. The entertainment ran the gamut from the beautiful stringed instrument melodies of the Philippines Rondalla group to the thunder of Denver Taiko's drums; the graceful hula of the Junior Wahine Polynesian dancers to the colorful pageantry of the Shaolin Hung Mei Kung Fu school's Dragon Dance, Lion Dance and martial arts performances. Audiences were introduced to the intricate rhythmic sound of

Balinese Gamelan music, a couple of presentations of elaborately costumed Indian dancing, a Chinese fashion show and to a remarkably energetic music and dance group of Korean Seniors.

Click image for bigger picture

The Marketplace was jammed most of the day. Shops including Truong An, Hana Designs and Serenities Feng Shui Store did well - I saw an awful lot of folks walking around with "lucky bamboo" plants - and a couple said they would need larger booths next year. The food vendors included Imperial Chinese, BD's Mongolian Barbecue, Sushi Redi and Howlin' Queso, which served Hawaiian dishes. (The one non-Asian food vendor, Rosa Linda Mexican Café, is a favorite of mine.) All the restaurants ran out and had to have more delivered throughout the day, so they were all happy with the turnout and are looking forward to next year.

Click image for bigger picture

As for all of us on the steering committee, we're proud but glad it's over. As for looking forward to next year, ask me in a couple of months. I need to recover first.

Gil Asakawa writes a weekly column of pop culture and politics from a Japanese American perspective. You can reach Gil's website at http://nikkeiview.com.