ELK GROVE, Calif. — Dozens of events are being held in the Greater Sacramento region to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage month.
This year's Asian Pacific CultureFest is being held in Elk Grove Saturday and is hosting over 100 AAPI vendors and artists.
The fest is being hosted by The Creative Space and the Sacramento Asian Pacific Cultural Village with the goal to bring a sense of belonging in a family friendly event.
“It's something that you know, honors our past and something we're able to bring in the present and share with others,” said Remy Tokunaga, cofounder of The Creative Space.
Event organizers say 5,000 people are expected to attend the event, supporting small businesses from the area.
Those who have been to the fest before may note some changes.
“One shift this year is that we do have more representation from the literary arts and spoken word,” said Jason Jong, Executive Director of the Sacramento Asian Pacific Cultural Village. “We have the first Asian American poet laureate for the state of California.”
The event is also to help anyone interested in getting back in touch with their roots to do so.
“We're born and raised in Sacramento, and we're fortunate enough to be part of the Asian community here. We grew up going to these types of events where we saw our culture, and I think, especially after COVID, they stopped happening,” said Tokunaga. “COVID kind of got us all in that mindset that we wanted to connect back to our roots and our community.”
Organizers also want to highlight businesses affected by COVID and harassment and discrimination which rose during the pandemic.
The CultureFest runs from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday in Elk Grove along Civic Center Drive.
Organizers hope for many things, but specifically that the “younger generation can see this and see what's possible and really stay connected to their roots,” said Tokunaga.
