Asian cultures explored in Parker celebration

Parker Arts Council holds second annual Parker Asian Festival

By Joe Nguyen, AsiaXpress.com

Jan. 21, 2008

1 | Photo gallery

PARKER – Vivid performances and a variety of fare and merchandise filled the second Parker Asian Festival Jan. 19 in the hockey rink of the Parker Fieldhouse.

The Parker Arts Council holds the annual event close to the Lunar New Year because it's an important holiday for many Asian cultures, according to Peggy Rolston, a festival volunteer.

"We definitely wanted to bring the Asian culture to the town of Parker," she said. " ... So we wanted to also show them some actual performances, not only to the children, but everyone in the community because it's such a great learning experience for everyone."

Hundreds gathered, both young and old, to indulge in Asian cuisine and enjoy a bevy of entertainment.

"There are so many Asian kids here now that this is good for them," said Ymelda Kuyath, a potter who sold pieces at the festival. "We need something like this down here."

Nine groups, featuring 90 performers showcased their talents on stage. Among them was Mirai Daiko, an all-women Arvada-based taiko drum ensemble who opened the night with booming Japanese beats.

"They are just so loud and it gets everyone to go, 'Wow, that's awesome, where's that sound coming from?'" Rolston said.

Over in the food area, Indochine owner Yume Tran held demonstrations on how to roll Vietnamese spring rolls. In the adjacent booth, patrons were given gave samples of products from Terrestrial Teas that were imported from Thailand.

Along the side of the hockey rink, there booths filled with various Asian-themed merchandise. Rolston said that they didn't want to have the marketplace and the stage disconnected as they did last year.

"We wanted to be able to have the Asian market and the performers all together, so no matter where you are ... you still can turn and see the performers going," Rolston said.

This year the festival moved from the Mainstreet Center because the venue was too small, she said.

"We filled the place and we didn't have enough seating room for everybody, so people had to flow into the Asian market," she said.

However with change comes new challenges. Since the festival took place in the fieldhouse's hockey rink, the volunteers weren't allowed to begin setting up until 3 p.m. because of scheduled league games, Rolston said.

"That was kind of restricting on getting the stage set up and getting the vendors in and we didn't get any decorations up," she said. "The stage was a little shorter than what it was supposed to be, so it's not all together. The final little touches weren't there ... we just ran out of time."

But these slight snags are just lessons for the future.

"I guess that our biggest lesson this year is that we make sure that we have ample time to set up," she said.

Joe Nguyen is the editor in chief of AsiaXpress.com. Joe can be reached at joe (at) asiaxpress.com.