Asia Collective Night Market Review - Disastrous

/
Asia Collective Night Market Review - Disastrous

The inaugural Asia Collective Night Market was held on Saturday, August 20, 2022 at the Howard County Fairgrounds in West Friendship, Maryland. The concept was to hold a food festival to mimic the famous night markets from Asian countries. Rows of food stalls would be available for attendees to sample foods from various Asian ethnicities in the same vein as last year’s DC REDEYE Night Market event. Unfortunately, the Asia Collective Night Market ended up being either just as bad or even more disastrous than its DC counterpart.

Read More

Fiesta Asia Silver Spring 2016 Street Festival

/
Fiesta Asia Silver Spring 2016 Street Festival

Fiesta Asia had their 6th annual Asian Street Festival at Silver Spring, MD on June 26th, 2016.  Normally scheduled for the beginning of May but postponed to June due to being rained out, the Silver Spring festival is a smaller, more compact version of the big bonanza that takes place in Washington, DC.  I was in Silver Spring for a couple of hours and took photos and video from performances by the Mongolian Dance Ensemble (which included ultra-adorable kids in camel costumes), Chin Daiko taiko drumming, Spotlight Studio Indonesian dances, Arabesque Dance Theatre, Kuchipudi Dance Academy, Leilah Moon, Asala Raqs, Beta Academy, and a Hawaiian performance.

Read More

Philadelphia Sakura Sunday Festival 2016

/
Philadelphia Sakura Sunday Festival 2016

On Sunday, April 17, 2016 I went up to Philly to attend the annual Sakura Sunday event which is a Japanese culture festival at the Fairmount Park Horticulture Center.  This is basically a smaller version of the National Cherry Blossom Festival Sakura Matsuri from the previous day in Washington, DC.  Despite the weather being fairly warmer this year compared to last year the trees were only starting to green and there weren't any cherry blossoms in bloom, maybe next year the surrounding vegetation will be livelier!

Read More

Washington DC Sakura Matsuri Festival 2016

/
Washington DC Sakura Matsuri Festival 2016

This will be just a quick post from the Sakura Matsuri Festival held today in Washington, DC. The annual Japanese culture festival is back and located in a new location.  Previously held on Pennsylvania Avenue, the festival is now located in a lot near the Nationals ballpark close to the Naval Yard.  I'm not sure in terms of square footage if the festival encompasses a larger or smaller space compared to previous years, but the new layout meant less traffic choke points and made it a little easier to move around.  The location at Pennsylvania Avenue was notorious for its congestion, especially around the food areas which made it a slow crawl to get anywhere.

Read More

Fiesta Asia Street Fair 2015 Washington D.C.

/
Fiesta Asia Street Fair 2015 Washington D.C.

I attended the Fiesta Asia Street Fair held in Washington D.C. for the fourth time on Saturday, May 16, 2015.  The annual street festival is sponsored by the Asia Heritage Foundation.  They usually hold a smaller festival in Silver Spring at the beginning of May and have the larger, main event in D.C. during the middle of May.  The festival consists of five stages with various performances that go on throughout the day.  There are also plenty of informational tents, ethnic food stalls, and vendors that lined streets.

Read More

Sakura Sunday 2015 in Philadelphia, PA

/
Sakura Sunday 2015 in Philadelphia, PA

Like my previous post on the National Cherry Blossom Festival, this one will be light on words but heavy on pictures.  On April 12th I drove up to Philadelphia to attend my first Sakura Sunday, Philly's cherry blossom festival.  This festival is much smaller in scale compared to D.C.'s, but it has a much more intimate feel to it (and you don't have to fight through huge crowds just to travel from one side to another).  Unfortunately their cherry blossoms haven't even begun to bloom yet so the area wasn't as pretty as it could have been.

Read More

National Cherry Blossom Festival 2015

/
National Cherry Blossom Festival 2015

This post will be light on words but heavy on pictures.  I went down to Washington, D.C. on Saturday, April 11, 2015 for the annual National Cherry Blossom Festival.  I got there early in the morning at around 05:30 AM to ensure that I get a good parking spot at Hains Point and to be able to take pictures of the cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin during sunrise.  I ended up wasting a lot of time waiting at some spots to get some pictures so the golden hour came and went before I knew it, but it was still a good learning experience nonetheless.

Read More