Why the Knox Asian Festival is more than a festival: ‘We connect people to people’
One of Knoxville’s most popular festivals is back after a two-year COVID-19 hiatus. And this year’s Knox Asian Festival is all about unity and connection.
The ninth festival will be held 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday at World’s Fair Park in downtown Knoxville. Celebrating the cultures of 13 different countries, the fest will feature authentic music, dancers, games, trivia, food and more. Admission is free.
“We are so excited (to be back),” Kumi Alderman, director of the Asian Culture Center of TN, told Knox News.
Bangladesh, China, India, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Pakistan, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam will be the countries represented this year.
The festival was first held in 2014 with just 3,000 attendees, which reportedly grew to 60,000 by its most recent festival in 2019.
K-Pop, kimonos, cosplay and more
This year’s festival will kick off with a parade at 10 a.m. starting at the World’s Fair Park water fountain and ending at 10:30 a.m. at the Tennessee Amphitheater stage.
Throughout the day, there will be K-Pop and J-Pop performances, Korean Fan Dancers from Georgia, Japanese drummers from Disney, a cosplay contest, a kimono show, and traditional dances.
A performance with an angklung, one of Indonesia’s most famous traditional instruments, will be held for the first time at the festival. Made of bamboo tubes on a bamboo frame, it requires multiple people to play a specific pitch to create complete melodies.
“We're so grateful that people are accepting our festival, and the people, and the cultures and they’re really enjoying it,” Alderman said.
A moment to connect and celebrate culture
Alderman says this year’s festival is especially important for Knoxville’s Asian communities. “I think COVID-time was tough for everyone,” she said referencing the rise in anti-Asian hate crimes across the country in recent years.
“Knox Asian Festival brings these different countries together, celebrate. We always say to the people: No politics, no religion. We don't talk about it. We connect people to people. … Our mission is to unite and create and keep a welcoming community by sharing our Asian culture.”
Alderman and Knox Asian Festival organizers see the event as an educational arts and culture exhibition, or as Alderman says, “we bring Asia to Knoxville.”
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“If people never have experience with other cultures, they don't know. They're not avoiding (it) or they're not against us, they just don’t know,” she added.
And even more importantly, it’s a space for local and regional Asian communities to come together, something Alderman says doesn’t happen enough and was worsened by COVID.
But that all changes when the festival comes around. Kids learn about their cultures; people are bonded while practicing together for festival performances; Asian students attending the University of Tennessee get to feel a sense of community.
“Knox Asian Festival for the Asian community is like a let's celebrate our life together moment, because we work hard every day, 365 (days), 24 hours, people work so hard and then they forget to celebrate their life.”
What’s new for this year’s festival?
A new feature of this year's festival is a Passport system. Festivalgoers will get their own booklets to get stamped as they “travel” to the different country booths. There will also be trivia questions from each country and the passports can be used to jot down things you learn about each culture.
Post your favorite photos from the festival holding the passport on social media using #KnoxAsianFestival, and you might win an official festival t-shirt. 10 free t-shirts will be given away.
The passport project is supported, in part, by the Tennessee Arts Commission and the Boyd Foundation.
A film event has been added to the festivities. On Saturday, the Knox Asian Film Festival will present five films and documentaries at Central Cinema.
The event will feature films "Rashomon," a 1950 Japanese psychological thriller considered to be one of the greatest films ever, along with "Memories of Murder" by Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho. Documentaries "Far East Deep South," "Pakadavai" and "The Kingdom of Dreams."
Tickets are $10 per screening or $35 for a day pass. Showtimes and more detailed film descriptions can be found at centralcinema865.com/asianfilmfest2022.
'We are the world'
But nothing encapsulates the festival’s spirit of unity more than what will occur immediately following the opening parade ceremony.
Two singers from each country represented at this year’s festival will take the Tennessee Amphitheater stage wearing cultural attire and sing the 1980s global hit song, “We Are the World,” accompanied by Maryville’s Clayton-Bradley Academy student orchestra.
“People just had a hard time to be connected and united (the past two years) and we were thinking: What’s the best way to do the open ceremony? And this old ‘We Are the World’ song united people,” Alderman explained.
“I think it's a really good song for the people. We're saying we, we are the world.”
For more information about the Knox Asian Festival and a full schedule, visit knoxasianfestival.com.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Knox Asian Festival returns to celebrate culture and community
