Tucson Chinese Connections
图桑华人联络通讯
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雷宏
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鲁旭、雷宏
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玛莎、牟耘、周丕 宣、杨立、徐燕、 袁方、蔡志坤、陈 荣基、刘东、熊中 国、Frank Cao、庞力真
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The 1st Tucson Taste of Asia
Daniel Leung
Daniel Leung
On April 30th and May 1st, the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center at 1288 W. River Road hosted the first Tucson Taste of Asia festival. As a celebration of the National Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage month in May, over 60 different organizations with performances, marketplace displays, workshops and food booths were present for the entire community to enjoy. 2010 is the Chinese Cultural Center’s 5 year anniversary and this festival was a great way to celebrate.
Event organizers estimate between 5,500 and 6,000 people were in attendance during the festivals two days. Foods native to Thailand, Laos, Korea, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, India, Kazakhstan and China were featured along with arts, music and dance from various parts of Asia. The festival was planned as a fun and entertaining opportunity for the Tucson community to experience the different cultures that make up Asia.
The Taste of Asia festival is the Cultural Center’s largest public event since opening in 2005. Local City Council members, County Supervisors, representatives from Congressional offices and State Corporation Commission candidate Barry Wong were some notable guests at this year’s festival. All of the festival attendees were greeted by 12 contestants from the Chinese United Association of Greater Phoenix’s 40th Anniversary Miss Chinese Pageant Court.
Two performance stages were used for the festival to showcase a wide variety of cultural performances. Some of the participating groups include the Tucson Sino Choir, Tucson Sino Martial Arts, Tucson Sino Taiji, Urvashi Dance Academy, Odaiko Sonora, Leiola Hula Halau and the Arathi School of Dance to just name a few. In addition to stage performances, there were a number of workshops and demonstrations ranging from the Art of Japanese Swordsmanship to playing the Chinese Guzheng.
Most of the performers were introduced by our event MC’s Tina Liao and Nixon Low, and the others were introduced by our special guest MC’s Sooyeon Lee (producer for KUAT TV) and Tammy Vo (News Anchor for KGUN9). The event received local media coverage on the evening news, local newspapers, and showcased on KUAT’s Arizona Illustrated on May 6th.
To see the KGUN9 news broadcast visit: http://www.kgun9.com/Global/story.asp?S=12410665
To see the KUAT’s Arizona Illustrated visit:
http://playpbs.azpm.org/video/1487229235/
Much of the event’s success this year was the result of the volunteer’s and planning team’s hard work. Over 100 volunteers from the Chinese community donated their time to year’s festival to make the event run smoothly. Another great addition to the planning team was the executive director of the Tucson Meet Yourself, Mia Hansen. Her experience and expertise was a great asset in getting the Taste of Asia off to a good start. It’s estimated that this years festival generated over $50,000 for all of the participating organizations. Thanks to the support of the entire Tucson community, we hope this is only the first Taste of Asia festival of many to come.
Event organizers estimate between 5,500 and 6,000 people were in attendance during the festivals two days. Foods native to Thailand, Laos, Korea, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, India, Kazakhstan and China were featured along with arts, music and dance from various parts of Asia. The festival was planned as a fun and entertaining opportunity for the Tucson community to experience the different cultures that make up Asia.
The Taste of Asia festival is the Cultural Center’s largest public event since opening in 2005. Local City Council members, County Supervisors, representatives from Congressional offices and State Corporation Commission candidate Barry Wong were some notable guests at this year’s festival. All of the festival attendees were greeted by 12 contestants from the Chinese United Association of Greater Phoenix’s 40th Anniversary Miss Chinese Pageant Court.
Two performance stages were used for the festival to showcase a wide variety of cultural performances. Some of the participating groups include the Tucson Sino Choir, Tucson Sino Martial Arts, Tucson Sino Taiji, Urvashi Dance Academy, Odaiko Sonora, Leiola Hula Halau and the Arathi School of Dance to just name a few. In addition to stage performances, there were a number of workshops and demonstrations ranging from the Art of Japanese Swordsmanship to playing the Chinese Guzheng.
Most of the performers were introduced by our event MC’s Tina Liao and Nixon Low, and the others were introduced by our special guest MC’s Sooyeon Lee (producer for KUAT TV) and Tammy Vo (News Anchor for KGUN9). The event received local media coverage on the evening news, local newspapers, and showcased on KUAT’s Arizona Illustrated on May 6th.
To see the KGUN9 news broadcast visit: http://www.kgun9.com/Global/story.asp?S=12410665
To see the KUAT’s Arizona Illustrated visit:
http://playpbs.azpm.org/video/1487229235/
Much of the event’s success this year was the result of the volunteer’s and planning team’s hard work. Over 100 volunteers from the Chinese community donated their time to year’s festival to make the event run smoothly. Another great addition to the planning team was the executive director of the Tucson Meet Yourself, Mia Hansen. Her experience and expertise was a great asset in getting the Taste of Asia off to a good start. It’s estimated that this years festival generated over $50,000 for all of the participating organizations. Thanks to the support of the entire Tucson community, we hope this is only the first Taste of Asia festival of many to come.