About 1,300 people gathered at the Alliance of the Arts in Fort Myers on Saturday to experience the sounds and tastes of various Asian cultures during AsiaFest 2020.
Japanese taiko drums welcomed visitors as they entered the 16th annual festival hosted by the Asian Professionals Association of SWFL.
APA member Frank Zhou said the festival meshes education with entertainment, giving people of all cultures a chance to experience something new.
"We Chinese, we don’t know what Filipinos like, we don’t know what Thai [people] like so now through this event, they can learn a little bit about it," Zhou said.
Asia Fest 2020 has officially begun. Japanese #taiko drummers open up the annual festival hosted by the #asianprofessionalassociation. @wgcu pic.twitter.com/mVp97TOvr3
— Andrea Perdomo (@am_perdomo) February 8, 2020
Festival-goers experienced the diversity of Asian culture though dance, food and dazzling visuals.
Asian Professionals Association’s president, Cynthia Roemisch, said the festival is an immersive experience.
"Come with your five senses: your eyes, your ears, your smell and your taste because you’re going to get a flavor of Asia," Roemisch said. "Not only through music, but through the food and our warmth and our hospitality."
Roemisch said while the festival is meant to be entertaining, APA puts it together for a bigger purpose.
"AsiaFest is our primary fundraising event for the scholarships for the students going off to college," Roemisch said.
A staple of the festival is the Miss AsiaFest where a handful of women dress up in their culture’s traditional clothes. Festival-goers vote to pick the annual winner.
Nguyen Thi Khanh Ngan, represented Vietnam. She described her outfit that has intricate gold beading and sequins delicately sewn onto it.
"This is called an aodai," Nguyen said. "It's got this traditional high collar and it's long, it's got these two panels on the side which is also very traditional of the dress and then underneath, we got pants and also to make it more formal, we have this kind of turban."
Nguyen lives in Naples and said she tries to come to AsiaFest every year.
"I really love seeing everyone come out and show up, representing their cultures," Nguyen said. "Because otherwise, I’m the only Vietnamese person outside of my family that I know."
**Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story reported 400 people attended AsiaFest, the total number of AsiaFest attendees was 1,300 people according to the Asian Professionals Association of SWFL
