The Grand Rapids Asian-Pacific Festival will take over Calder Plaza for the first time in over a year on June 11 and 12.
The Asian-Pacific Festival will enrich Grand Rapids’ cultural vibrancy by providing a high-quality experience into rich Asian traditions. This event recognizes the growing Asian population within West Michigan and share a vision of unity, inclusiveness, and honoring cultures.
The festival will feature food and drink of many Asian countries, free performances, and demonstrations such as traditional Vietnamese lion dances, Taiko drummers, various singing and dance performances, and martial arts demonstrations. There will also be karaoke and pho eating contests.
Special guest singer-songwriter AJ Rafael will headline the event with two performances on Friday. Rafael is a singer/songwriter from Moreno Valley, California with over 1 million YouTube subscribers and 900,000 listeners on Spotify.
New for 2021, the Grand Rapids Asian-Pacific Foundation has teamed up with two local breweries to create custom Asian-Pacific-inspired beers, which will be available for purchase at the event. The Mitten Brewing Company’s "I Dream of Lychee" is a blonde ale brewed with fresh lychee and cardamom, and GRAPF Mango Passion is an exclusive Founders Brewing Co. wheat ale with notes of mango and passionfruit.
The festival will run 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. each day.
To learn more, visit grasianfestival.com.
