By CATHERINE LANGFORD
The Asian Pacific Festival celebrated its 20th year Saturday at the Salt Palace with food, dances, fashion, demonstrations and displays, representing more than 50 Asian communities in Utah.
The Pacific Asian Festival is an annual opportunity for the members of the various Asian communities in Utah to get together to demonstrate and teach the unique cultures and traditions they represent.
The Utah Arts Council stated, the first Asians in Utah (more than 12,000 Chinese railroad laborers), came in the 1860s. More than a hundred years later, the Asian Pacific community is the fastest growing ethnic community and makes up 2 percent of the state's population.
In 1977, representatives from the different Asian Pacific communities formed a coalition known as the Asian Association of Utah.
'The Asian Association of Utah was first formed to help newly-arrived Asian refugees and immigrants,' said Shu Cheng, A.A.U. executive director.
The help offered then -- and now -- includes job services, counseling, education, tutoring, even after-school programs, Cheng said. While these programs benefit mostly the Asian community, other programs and activities sponsored by the A.A.U. are aimed at increasing awareness of the diversity and beauty of Asian culture to those unacquainted with it.
Various groups representing different Asian communities participate in the annual Pioneer Day Parade, assemblies at schools statewide, and those members of the different communities are encouraged to continue learning the traditional dances and customs of their ancestors, Cheng said.
'One of the things we want to see is to make our state get more diversity in our community,' Cheng said. The Asian Pacific Festival is part of that goal.
'(The festival) showcases the rich legacy of the Asian community, as well as how rich of a history and culture Asians have,' said Festival Coordinator James Jun. Although stereotypes seem to get in the way of the festival objectives.
'A lot of people think you have to be Asian to come,' Jun said.
'Sometimes the stereotypes stop the flow of information,' Cheng said. 'We don't feel we need to learn more (because we know the stereotype).'
The A.A.U. and the Asian Pacific Festival work to change the stereotypes through education. The festival coordinators keep three goals in mind to help accomplish this: first, they work to raise money for the A.A.U., a non-profit social service; second, they work to make the festival progressively better; and finally, they work to 'promulgate the festival to the community at large,' Jun said.
This festival was the most successful yet, Jun said, but he admits it has a way to go until the festival objectives are reached.