Celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month at the fourth annual Fiesta Asia – National Asian Heritage Festival in Washington, DC, on Saturday, May 16. It’s FREE to the public and hosted by the Asia Heritage Foundation. The Grand Celebration will be from 11am to 7pm along Pennsylvania Avenue NW between 3rd St & 6th St. The day’s schedule includes performances by musicians, vocalists and dance artists, lots of delicious foods, an outdoor marketplace, martial arts performances, and exhibits of traditional and contemporary Asian crafts.

Special highlights include “Meet Chi-Chang the Live Terracotta Warrior” from the National Geographic Museum Exhibit, world class martial arts demo by martial artist Anji Zhang, Laotian singer Alex San Dinero on the talent stage, and an international dance troupe of ancient culture of Xixia on the cultural stage. Performances are scheduled over 8 hours on 3 stages with 60 performance groups from over 20 cultures. The main street parade will be held at 2pm.

Event Sponsors include McDonalds, Verizon, Eastland Food Corp, Singha Beer and National Language Service Corps. Partners include DC Commission on Arts and Humanities, Migrant Heritage Commission, Eastmark International, and Cultural Tourism DC.

For more information, visit www.asiaheritagefoundation.org.

What is Asian Heritage Month?
Asian Pacific American Heritage Month is celebrated in May to commemorate the contributions of people of Asian and Pacific Islander descent in the United States. Congress passed a joint Congressional Resolution in 1978 to commemorate Asian American Heritage Week during the first week of May. This date was chosen because two important anniversaries occurred during this time: the arrival of the first Japanese immigrants in America on May 7, 1843 and the completion of the transcontinental railroad by many Chinese laborers on May 10, 1869. Congress later voted to expand it from a week long to a month long celebration.