It will feature more than 20 performers.
They'll be celebrating in Baker Park in Frederick on Saturday, May 12th. The Asian-American, Pacific Islander Heritage Festival will take place from 1:00 PM until 9:00 PM. "It's a multitude of ethnic groups that represent Asian and Pacific Islanders. They're coming primarily from Frederick to celebrate their cultural heritage with us," says Elizabeth Chung with the Asian-American Center of Frederick.
Organizers only had a short time to put it together says Mike Wipp, the chairman of the event. "We started little over a month ago, and we thought 'it'd be nice to fly some kites in Baker Park,'" he says. "Then Elizabeth was at a meeting with the governor, and they decided 'let's ramp it up a bit.' Now we end up almost 20 acts, I believe, performers that will be available that day for free."
May has been proclaimed Asian-American Heritage month.
Among the events taking place are martial arts, henna tattoo, calligraphy, rangoli and a Chinese yo-yo. "You use two sticks with both hands, and a yo-yo will be spinning in the middle of the string. And you can flip up, left and right," says Chung. She says several youngsters who are very talented will be coming to demonstrate.
You can also learn how to play a board game known as "Go," which Chung says is very challenging. It's a "highly strategic game that we really have to think about how to engulf your enemies, and then find a way not to be engulfed," she says.
There will also be kite flying, origami, arts and crafts, music and dancing. As always, you can sample all kinds of Asian food. "At the end of the day, we let everybody come to the dancing floor and join the music and celebrate," Chung says.
She says this festival is an opportunity for Asian-Americans to learn something about their ancestors, and non-Asians to know more about the people who live on world's largest continent. China, Japan, Korea, Burma, Cambodia, Vietnam, India and Thailand will be represented.
Chung says Frederick County has experienced the largest increase in population in Maryland of persons with Asian backgrounds in recent years.
