AAPI Festival Honors in the Best Way

On Friday, April 25th, the Asian Culture Club hosted their annual Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Festival, which was welcome to both the student body and the public. Joining them were the Hmong Student Association, Vietnamese Student Association, Japan Club, Filipino Club, Desi Culture Club, and K-Pop Appreciation and Dance Club. Along with these clubs, there were also several volunteers to help put this massive festival together. The clubs and volunteers joined together to put on a wonderful display of Asian Culture, including dances, singing, a fashion show of traditional Asian wear, and set up booths to tell the history of their culture.

The first 100 students to show up and get a stamp from each booth were given a free t-shirt with the AAPI logo on it, printed in beautiful lettering. Each booth also consisted of either tasty treats or games that would help learn about that culture. After a while of students going around to each booth, food was officially served. Each student was served a good portion of Asian delicacies from multiple different restaurants. The food available was able to be served to both vegans and non-vegans, as they had only vegetable options.

After the food had been served and enjoyed, the entertainment could officially begin. With passionate and delightful hosts announcing each performance, the crowd was captivated by several different events. The performances consisted of two duets, two dances to K-pop songs, and a song played on a traditional instrument (not in that order).

The most popular performance was a dance that was called the "Noble Eight Lion Dance." This dance consisted of four people in a costume with a mask known as a shishi-gashira mask, which represents a lion. The dance was several minutes long, but never bored the crowd. At one point, the dancers actually went into the crowd and started to throw oranges at a select few. At the end, they then went around and took tips from the crowd that were greatly deserved. Even giving the tips was entertaining, as the person giving the tip would have to stick their hand in the lion's "mouth" to hand the performer the money.

At the very end of the festival, there was a drawing for prizes that the guests put tickets in for when they first entered the festival. All they had to do to get a ticket was show up. Some of the prizes consisted of a goody bag of snacks, a giant bag of rice, and many more things. The most popular and anticipated drawing though, was for the rice cooker/steamer. The tension in the room was evident when that prize was announced.

Though there were too many important contributors to name, each and every one did their part to make this festival a success. Everyone had a wonderful time, and no one seemed to want to leave early. No doubt, everyone left with some new information.