The Pacific Rim Street Fest

                The Pacific Rim Street Fest is held in Old Sacramento and Westfield Downtown Plaza.  The Fest was started in 1993 by restaurant owner Frank Fat, who according to the official website wanted to “have a festival where we could learn about each other’s cultures and appreciate our similarities and differences – and be a community together. ”  This year(2013) will be the 21st year that the festival has been held.  For each festival there has been a different theme featuring an aspect of Asian culture, this year’s theme was “shoes” and was held on Sunday, May 19 from 10:00a.m – 5:00 p.m.

Over the course of the fest there are multiple stages with different performers; Lion dance

At the Fest there were four different stages with each stage showing  different groups.  At the Sacramento Bee Stage there was the Sacramento Taiko Don, Akai Sky and others.  At the Wells Fargo Stage groups such as KMA Korean Drumming and Koyasan Taiko performed.  In the mall at the Downtown Plaza Stage the Capitol Chinese Orchestra and Uncle Pete’s Shipwreck Crew played music to entertain the shoppers. And finally at the Kaiser Permenente Stage they showed groups like the Dexter Labonog Martial Arts.  However these are only a small portion of the groups that performed.

Uncle Pete’s Shipwreck Crew

Koyasan Taiko

At the Fest along with the performers there are a lot of venders and booths.  Many associations such as the Asian Community Center, Boy Scout Council, Girl Scouts heart of central CA, and kids for peace have booths where they can inform people about their organization.  At this year’s Fest the volunteers at the Kids for Peace booth were showing people how to fold paper cranes.  People also were selling their products in different booths scattered around Old Sacramento.

Kids For Peace