Before organizing the first United Festival in 2022, Ariel Mei Gliboff realized she could not find a single previous festival celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in Redmond.
She’d long wanted to work with her nonprofit The Emotional Abuse Discussion, or TEAD, to host an event “that shows how beautiful and diverse our cultures are,” she said. The nonprofit, a majority of whose members are Asian, aims to address the root cultural causes of domestic abuse, with an emphasis on supporting marginalized survivors, including people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
The pandemic era’s heightened isolation and anti-Asian racism pushed Gliboff and TEAD to launch the first United Festival celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in 2022.
This year’s festival on May 20 has doubled in size to around 30 vendors and several performers and artists, all from Asian American and Pacific Islander communities and representing different parts of the Asia diaspora, Gliboff said.
Admission is free and the festivities — from dancing and art to vendors and food trucks — will be held from noon to 5 p.m. in Redmond’s Downtown Park.
After local comedian and actor Cindy Su kicks off the live entertainment lineup with a set at 2 p.m., the Mak Fai Kung Fu Dragon & Lion Dance Association will perform a traditional Chinese lion dance. Later in the afternoon, Punjabi folk dance school Rhythms of India will perform and lead a dance workshop.