Latest news with #CelebrAsian
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Opening weekend at Heritage Carousel draws families, friends
DES MOINES – The Heritage Carousel at Union Park in Des Moines opened for the season on Saturday, and several families were happy to see it continue its traditions. The Carousel opened Saturday, May 24th, and will run through Sunday, August 24. Operating hours are Tuesday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. 22nd annual CelebrAsian festival takes over downtown Des Moines The carousel opened in 1998 and Jackie Cacciatore, the Executive Director of Heritage Carousel, said that she's committed to keeping the carousel affordable. 'We charge $0.50 for kids to ride and a dollar for adults, and our prices have remained the same since 1998,' Cacciatore said. Cacciatore said that its nice to see generations of kids enjoy the carousel. 'This is our 27th year in operation, and so we're seeing grandparents bringing their grandchildren who brought their parents or, you know, brought their kids and it's really fun to see that,' Cacciatore said. To learn more about the Heritage Carousel visit the Carousel's website. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
22nd annual CelebrAsian festival takes over downtown Des Moines
DES MOINES, Iowa — Hundreds are making their way to downtown Des Moines for the 22nd annual CelebrAsian festival. The two-day festival kicked off on Friday and showcases Asian culture through food, music, dance, crafts, and more. On Saturday, the festival goes from 11 a.m. through 10 p.m. near Wester Gateway Park. As a result of the festival, some roads downtown will be closed. The closures are mainly focused between Grand Avenue and Walnut Street, from as far east as 10th Street to as far west as 14th street. Organizer Jade Cal told WHO 13 News that 15 different villages are being represented this year. Villages include different countries or ethnic groups, like Indonesian, Indian, Japanese, Chinese, Filipino, and so many others. She also said there are over 80 vendors this year, and 55 of them are food vendors. 'We want everyone to be immersed in the villages culture as well as their cultural backgrounds. We want you to explore all of their food options as well as getting to know a little bit more about their culture,' said Cal. One of the vendors is the Japan America Society of Iowa, or JASI. Yoko Tanaka, the Executive Director, showed WHO 13 News the Japanese drinks and snacks that they were selling to visitors this year including Pocky and Ramune. However, their biggest attraction is a Japanese puppet show. This year is the 65th anniversary of Iowa's sister-state relationship with Yamanashi, Japan. This is also the longest-running sister-state relationship in the state of Iowa. In celebration of the relationship, JASI organized two projects. The first is an origami crane project where over 1,000 origami cranes will be displayed at the Iowa State Fair this year, and the other is a puppet show in Des Moines. The Sasago Oiwake Puppet Theater came to Iowa all the way from Yamanashi. According to Tanaka, this is their first time performing outside of Japan. They will perform at the Des Moines Community Playhouse on Sunday, May 25th at 2 p.m. Tickets are $25 for general admission or $10 for students. Tanaka said this show is interesting for Iowans because western puppets are nothing like Japanese puppets. That's because in this performance, three puppeteers control just one puppet. This allows the doll to look realistic by making more expressive facial expressions. The puppets and the puppeteers came out to CelebrAsian on Friday, and they gained the interest of many Iowans. Several were impressed with how realistic they looked and the teamwork that went into moving just one puppet. Tanaka said she hopes to bring the puppets back on display at CelebrAsian on Saturday, but that will depend on the weather. The puppets are over 100 years old and are made of wood, so rain can be detrimental to their condition. For more information on the Sasago Oiwake Puppet Theater performance, click here. The festival's theme this year is Celebrasian in Full Bloom. Flowers representing the different ethnic groups can be seen around the villages. This theme is a nod to the 50th year of the Southeast Asian resettlement in Iowa. 'A lot of the communities here would not be here without the resettlement,' said organizer Lisa Thai. 'My dad was a Vietnamese refugee who came over here in the 80s. I wouldn't be here in Iowa if it wasn't for him and the resettlement.' There will also be cultural dances, music, and performances throughout the day. The festival goes from 11 a.m. through 10 p.m. near Wester Gateway Park in Des Moines. For more information on CelebrAsian, click here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
9 things to eat and drink at the CelebrAsian festival in downtown Des Moines
A weekend of Asian foods, music, and culture takes over the Western Gateway neighborhood of Des Moines for the 50th anniversary of CelebrAsian, the festival honoring Iowa's Asian populations and their history and roots in the Hawkeye State. The event that brings tents of vendors along Grand Avenue and Locust Street, and along 12th and 13th streets in downtown Des Moines, features a fashion show, cultural performances, and more than 100 food and retail vendors. This year's celebration also coincides with the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War and pays tribute to the late Gov. Robert Ray's efforts to bring Southeast Asian refugees to Iowa. More: CelebrAsian returns this weekend to celebrate 50 years of refugees in Iowa. What to know: Vendors at this festival are arranged by villages, each representing a different country. The 15 villages cover Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Hmong, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Lao, Marshallese, Micronesian, Burmese, Nepalese, Tai Dam, Thai, and Vietnamese traditions. Each has its own food to buy, giving festivalgoers a chance to sample everything from chicken satay to Korean corn dogs, with some represented by local restaurants and others by food trucks or associations representing the culture in Des Moines. Tin Lam, the co-owner of EatFuti, the local food delivery app that recommends restaurants to try and delivers food to your door, sampled some of the dishes at the festival to give readers ideas about something new to try. More: Tin Lam created an app for Des Moines restaurants that brings ethnic food to your home Sugarcane drink, $12: It's fascinating to watch sugarcane stripped of its outer husk and turned into a drink at Lao Flavors. The 32-ounce drink comes with a handle so it doesn't heat up from your hands holding the glass. And it's not as sweet as you might expect. 12th Street between Locust and Walnut streets Terong balado, $6, and tongseng, $6: The Indonesian Community of Iowa represented with several dishes, including terong balado, dubbed an angry eggplant served over rice, and tongseng, a beef curry stew served with rice. 12th Street near Locust Street Beef on a stick, $6: Lemongrass flavors these skewers of beef that make the perfect walking food. Find them at the Cambodian Street Foods stand. 12th Street between Walnut and Locust streets. Crispy pork belly, $10: Myanmar saw representation at the Myanmar Village. Savory pork belly was enough to feed two people with a generous portion. 12th Street between Walnut and Locust streets. Aloo tikki chaat, $12: This northern Indian dish from the Tikka Talk food truck featured crispy potatoes stuffed with spiced lentils, a green chutney, sweet tamarind sauce, and aromatic chaat masala. The dish had crunch, sweetness, sourness, heat, and creaminess. Locust Street near 13th Street Special banh mi, $12: Paris Banh Mi in Windsor Heights brought its Vietnamese fare to the festival. Aside from banh mi, the Vietnamese sandwich on a baguette, the tent offered Thai tea and boba, eggrolls, and potstickers. 13th Street near Grand Avenue Bao buns, $5 each: Chikin Lickin', the Korean fried chicken restaurant in Waukee, served bao buns with bulgogi chicken (the Bridezilla bao) and bulgogi beef (the Moo-lisa bao). The stand also offered wings with sweet and spicy, gochu, spicy gochu, or Thai basil sauce, and chicken tenders with the same sauce options. Grand Avenue near 12th Street Mochi doughnuts, $3 each or four for $10: Crème, the Asian bakery from Sammy Mila off Ingersoll Avenue in Des Moines, brought its wildly popular mochi doughnuts to the festival. Try flavors such as ube latte, strawberry matcha, cinnamon sugar, and the exclusive Thai tea. 12th Street between Grand Avenue and Locust Street When: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. May 23 and 24 Where: Western Gateway Park, 1205 Locust St. in Des Moines For more information, visit Des Moines Register social justice reporter F. Amanda Tugade contributed to this article. Sign up for our new dining newsletter, The Dish, which comes out on Wednesday mornings with all the latest news on restaurants and bars in the metro. You can sign up for free at If you see a new restaurant opening or a beloved place closing, send me some details at sstapleton@ Susan Stapleton is the entertainment editor and dining reporter at The Des Moines Register. Follow her on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, or drop her a line at sstapleton@ This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: What to eat and drink at CelebrAsian, the Asian festival in Des Moines
Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
CelebrAsian returns this weekend to celebrate 50 years of refugees in Iowa. What to know:
Nu Huynh's face lights up whenever she talks about CelebrAsian — Iowa's longstanding Asian American festival that has become a tradition for Memorial Day weekend. Though she has helped organize the multicultural two-day event for more than a decade, she is reminded each year of its true purpose: community. "For everyone that's involved in this, it's just that sense of pride and connectedness when we see just a huge amount of diversity, and then we see ourselves and we see our culture on massive display," said Huynh, executive director of Iowa Asian Alliance, the organization behind CelebrAsian and other local events such as AsianFest and Pho King. This year's CelebrAsian takes place Friday, May 23 and Saturday, May 24 at Western Gateway Park in Des Moines and takes on the theme In Full Bloom to spotlight Iowa's Asian populations and their history and roots in the Hawkeye State. This year's event, featuring a fashion show, cultural performances and over 100 food and retail vendors, also coincides with the 50th anniversary of the end of the Vietnam War and pays tribute to the late Gov. Robert Ray's efforts to bring Southeast Asian refugees to Iowa. "We're celebrating the 50th anniversary at the same time we're celebrating all of our communities, how far we've come, how much Iowa is our home — just all of our contributions today," Huynh said. More: How Des Moines' Filipino Store helps Iowans stay connected to loved ones back home May Davis is among the event volunteers leading one of 15 "villages" — tents scattered across the park, packed with ethnic food, traditional attire and other cultural items representing 15 of the Asian cultures in Des Moines. Davis, who is Hmong and grew up in Des Moines, spoke of her family's journey to Iowa from Thailand almost 40 years ago; her father, a teen soldier during the Vietnam War, and the persecution their people faced. "The stories that my mom tells me about running through the jungle, especially at night, having to be quiet ... giving a little bit of opium to the baby so they wouldn't cry and give out their position in the jungle while they're hiding," said Davis, 39. " ... It's crossing the river even with the baby in hand." That's why this year's theme — 50 Years Ray of Freedom — hits home for Davis, who came to the U.S. in 1986 at 4 months old with her parents and siblings. "When I hear about freedom, you hear your family's history," she said. More: As Iowa's 50-year legacy of welcoming refugees ends, what's next for those left behind? The theme also struck a chord with 28-year-old Gabrielle Baccam, who is Tai Dam and Chinese and has helped with the Tai Dam village tent since 2021. Embracing her family's past drove her to get more involved in CelebrAsian. Baccam said her parents arrived in the U.S. in the 1970s. Her father and his family came first in 1975 from Thailand; her mother and her family came four years later from Laos. Her late grandfather also was a major in the Royal Lao Army, sought after by Communists, and needed to be on the first plane out of Thailand. If her family had never left Thailand or Laos, Baccam said her life today might look much different. She might not have had the opportunity to pursue her education. "There's just more opportunities here," she said. When: 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. May 23 and 24 Where: Western Gateway Park, 1205 Locust St. in Des Moines For more information, visit F. Amanda Tugade covers social justice issues for the Des Moines Register. Email her at ftugade@ or follow her on X @writefelissa. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: What to know about CelebrAsian in Des Moines over Memorial Day weekend
Yahoo
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Get ready for CelebrAsian
Iowa's largest Asian celebration is just around the corner and you can experience it through food, music, activities, art, and more! Jade Ngoc Cao and Amanda Lovan share more about CelebrAsian. Learn more at Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
