CLEVELAND, Ohio --The Cleveland Asian Festival returns Saturday and Sunday, May 17-18 with familiar and new experiences. These include a food court, Asian food competition, world marketplace, Asian trivia competition, Asian-Pop Dance Competition, a Cosplay Showcase, fashion show, various entertainment and free health screenings.
“We are expanding a lot this year,” says Johnny Wu, who founded the festival in 2010 and continues as an event leader. “We have a huge wait list for vendors. Everybody wants to do business with the Asian community.”
More than 30 food vendors will sell dishes representative of their heritage. These include momos, crispy bánh mì, savory beef tapsilog, som tum and more.
Many of the same vendors will participate in the Best Asian Food Competition. To compete they will create special dishes to be judged by both a panel and festival goers to determine winners.
Stories by Paris Wolfe
Check out the list of Asian Food Court vendors and Food Trucks.
The Asian-Pop Dance Cover Competition invites teams of dancers to compete in front of festival judges for cash prizes. Meanwhile, the Fashion Exhibition shows off the beautiful ethnic clothing from various Asian countries.
After a hiatus, the “Cosplay Showcase” returns with Asian cultural representations ranging from ancient legends to modern pop culture.
The festival runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., May 17 and 18. It is in AsiaTown, around the area of East 27th and Payne Avenue, Cleveland.
The festival is free and offers free parking within walking distance – about 0.2 miles away at Cleveland State University Parking lots. A free shuttle bus will run every 10 to 15 minutes.
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Send dining, drinking and culture story ideas to Paris Wolfe at pwolfe@cleveland.com. Review her previous stories here. Follow Paris Wolfe on Instagram @pariswolfe.