What’s Going On?

The Carnaval Grand Parade is a parade that takes place on the last day of the Carnaval Festival. This year’s theme for Carnaval was Colors of Sound / Splashes of Culture. The parade kicked off at about 9:30am, however things were a little backed up and so the parade started a little later than that. The parade started off on 24th Street and Bryant Street and continued until it hit Mission Street. The parade then turned onto Mission Street and continued all the way down until 17th Street where the parade then did a final right turn towards the festival grounds at Harrison street.

The Grand Parade was great this year with many attenders this year. The weather was amazing and a little too hot for myself, but I’m sure most of the people there that day enjoyed it. The lead float of the parade was led by King Miggy and Queen Carmen. They are the winners of the Carnaval King and Queen competition that was held prior to the Carnaval Festival. Both winners of the competition won their titles with their performance of Samba. Each competitor during the competition is given the option of singing, dancing, and/or playing a musical instrument. They are given three minutes to perform and must compete in a Carnaval costume.

The parade consisted of numerous cultures through out the Americas. The majority of the parade consisted of music and dance of the native land from which they represented; however, there were a few countries represented that walked the parade demonstrating the clothing and some of the traditions that was signature to their country. The parade seemed to last forever with probably more participants than previous years. This parade I believe was a little over three hours long. It seems much longer when you’re standing in the sun.

The parade grand marshals were Benjamin Bratt and Peter Bratt. They were followed in part with the rest of their cast in the movie “La Mission”. The actors sat in the restored vintage car portion of the parade and cruised in style while being applauded as they travelled down Mission Street. Some cars were tricked out with hydraulics enabling the cars to bounce, be raised and lowered from the back axle and also the front axle with the ability to be raised and lowered left and right as well.

The theme for Carnaval this year was truly played out to the fullest as all the units in the parade displayed vivid colors. This festival is probably ranked one of my favorite festivals to attend every year because of the vast amounts of color, happy participants, and enthused on-lookers.

Following the parade, attenders were welcomed at the festival that was located on Harrison Street where the festivities continued with food, drink, fun, and other various performances. The festival following the parade is probably the time when people who feel claustrophobic shouldn’t attend purely for the fact that thousand upon thousands of people pack the venue. As with the previous day of the festival, Sunday is just jam packed with people and sometimes trying to get around can get a little frustrating when you move throughout the 6 blocks at a snail’s pace.

Overall, I’m very pleased with the turnout of the festival and I’m sure I’ll be back again to enjoy another year of awesome fun and food. I hope to see you all there next year. Bring your family and friends because it’s going to be a great time.

Pictures of Carnaval can be seen by clicking on the picture link above. If this post was informative and helpful, please feel free to leave me a comment or donation below. Thank you.

Asian Rock Fest is a celebration of music. Four performances took to the stage at the Rockit Room in San Francisco’s Richmond District. Tickets went on sale about two weeks prior and tickets also were on sale at the door for $8. Guest performers for the Asian Rock Fest were Jack Tung, United High, Lion Riding Horses, and the night finished off with Johnny Hi-Fi.

A medium sized crowd of locals came out to support these artists and the work they call their music. At the venue guests were encouraged to mingle prior to the performance and to purchase band CDs and memorabilia. Members of the bands signed and took pictures with guests. A full bar was also available to guests throughout the evening.

Pictures of the Asian Rock Fest can be seen by clicking on the picture link above. If this post was informative and helpful, please feel free to leave me a comment or donation below. Thank you.

Carnaval this year was great and surprisingly hot. People from all over the Bay and the country came out to check out this special celebration of various cultures from Mexico, Central America, South America, and a few other countries as well. The majority of the festival took place on the Harrison Street where vendors sold their food and products. The festival started off light, but by mid-day the crowd packed the streets.

Like most festivals, this festival had a couple of stages for live performances, there were a couple of drinking areas, and throughout the festival there were food and shopping available. This festival also had a new addition this year and it was an area dedicated to dancing. Most of the music at the festival was Latin inspired, but there was Jazz and Reggae as well. For the kids, there was an area for a little batting practice and a few inflattable jumping zones.

The festival lasted for two days with the final day having a Grand Parade on Sunday. Great event for family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, and all. If you haven’t been to this you’ll be in for a surprise because this is one of the festivals that can get jam packed. Especially on the day of the Grand Parade when parade attenders flock to Harrison Street after the parade down Mission Street.

Pictures of the Carnaval festival can be seen by clicking on the picture link above. If this post was informative and helpful, please feel free to leave me a comment or donation below. Thank you.

May is Asian Pacific American Month and one of the last events during the month was a privately held Asian Pacific American Month Celebration thrown by employees of the Federal Building. The event took place in the ceremonial courtroom of the Federal Building at Civic Center. The turnout for the event was very successful. The large crowd filled up the benches of the courtroom and they were able to see several Polynesian dance performances, along with a couple of songs, a Samurai sword demonstration, and a speech given by keynote speaker Miss Chinatown USA Crystal Lee.

The performances for the afternoon were pretty enjoyable, but among the top of enjoyable moments was when a few State and Federal workers were asked to perform some hula and that’s when things got a little interesting. Having been able to attend, I really had a great time being able to enjoy the moment.

Following the performances, guests and employees enjoyed a luncheon with a taste of Asia where the food was vast and abundant. Different types of Asian cusine lined the tables. There was Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Vietnamese, Korean, and Hawaiian food available. Everything was delicious and the event was fun.

Pictures of the APA Heritage Celebration can be seen by clicking on the picture link above. If this post was informative and helpful, please feel free to leave me a comment or donation below. Thank you.

San Mateo County Fairgrounds was host to the famous Maker Faire where maker’s of arts & crafts, gadgets and gizmos, and other various contraptions were shown to the public. Entrance to the fair was at most $25 for at the door costs, but presale tickets were sold at a discount. The fair took over the whole fairgrounds and much was to be seen. Entertainment lined the fairgrounds inside and out with tons of stuff to see and do left and right. Food was all over the places and looked and smelled great.

One of the most entertaining things to see at this show was being able to see music come from electrical arcs from Tesla coils. With a live band playing as back up, a man in a wire meshed suit stood between two huge Tesla coils and was able to allow electricity to go to his suit and closing the circuit.

This year Bazaar Bizarre SF obtained the Cypress Room where vendors from all over came to show off their work. Lots of people came to shop around and many just looked around at some of the cool and interesting creations that people can come up with. Many vendors sold jewelry and clothing, but some of the most interesting ones came from a few that made stuffed animals from different types of materials. Some animals were made from cotton (yarn), some from felt, and some from denim or other various materials.

Having walked around the bazaar there were many things that I wish I could purchase, but I know if I did that I wouldn’t have any more money left in my bank. However, just being able to see these items brought a sense of joy and happiness to me.

Although, I did not spend much time searching the whole fairgrounds, I had a great time meeting the makers of Bazaar Bizarre. They are ordinary people trying to make a living by selling some of their creations. A lot of them do it as a hobby, but most of them do it for a living. Come out to an event and help support local artists, artists including myself. For more information on Bazaar Bizarre please go to their website at http://www.bazaarbizarre.org/sanfrancisco

Bay to Breakers is San Francisco’s excuse to have a crazy good time. It’s an event race where practically the whole city attends with many more coming from all over the Bay Area and even throughout the world. Some come with running the race in mind, some come just to relax and have a great time partying with friends and family. Some come clothed in costumes and some don’t come clothed at all.

This year’s race was a little better in terms of the weather, but still was a little bit on the chilly side, until the early afternoon when things started to clear up. The foot race seemed to have a lot more people, but the costumes were on the decline as to previous years. I think perhaps race attenders didn’t have enough disposable income to spend on creating costumes. Many race attenders just came armed with cameras to try and catch the craziest costumes and just the weirdest of things.

All in all, being able to document this foot race was pretty fun and seeing just the vast amount of people on the streets felt kind of surreal. The colors all over were just a photographers dream come true. I, myself, love colors all around it just makes me happy. However, when I come across old naked and even young people naked, it just throws me for a loop because this is just something you don’t see everyday, nor should you be exposed to some of them. I mean if you’re gonna expose yourself please look in the mirror and don’t punish people.

In the end, I had a great time. People that I photographed were nice and friendly. Some of the costumes were great and some not so great, but in the end I think that it’s the spirit of laughter and joy that make this foot race so fun to attend. My favorite costumes this year for the race would have to go to the groups that created team outfits, especially the group of gnomes, the Pac-Man group, the Mario Kart groups, and the Tetris group. Congratulations guys for making me laugh, you guys are great. Until next year folks! See you at the races!!!

Pictures of the Bay to Breakers can be seen by clicking on the picture link above. If this post was informative and helpful, please feel free to leave me a comment or donation below. Thank you.

The 6th Annual Asian Heritage Street Celebration filled Larkin St. from Civic Center all the way up to Little Saigon. The street festival started with some cold gloomy weather, but heated up by mid-afternoon. Early Asian festivities started with the Faces of Asia parade. The parade started at the Asian Art Museum and went through the festival all the way to the top of the festival at Eddy Street and back down to the Cultural and Jazz Stage.

Featured entertainers of the festival were the West Coast Lion Dance Troupe, Frances Ancheta Becker, Kapakahi, Native Elements, Trackademics, Kat o1o (Crown City Rockers), Far East Movement, The CounterParts, Curt Yagi, Kazha, akai Sky, Chung Ngai Dance Troupe, Argonne Elementary School, Purple Orchids, ASEAN Corner, Chardi Jawani Stanford Bhangra, Gen Taiko, AHSC Best Dance Crew Contest (hosted by WILD 94.9), SF Pinoy Jazz Revnue, Balut Eating Contest, YoYoJoe, Planet Infinity’s More Than Medals Taekwondo Team, Unity Tuy Ngoc Nguyen, and Animemyu.

One thing that this street celebration does not lack in and that is entertainment. It is very difficult to catch everything in one day, but if you can pull it off to catch half of it you did a pretty good job. Just the entertainment on the stages alone was a lot, but don’t forget the street celebration itself. The street festival not to mention has vendors that sell arts & crafts, gifts, food, information, a kiddie carnival, they also have sponsors that give out free things and booths that can even teach you how to play mahjong. If that’s not enough, there’s import cars to check out and if that’s not entertaining enough, there’s Muay Thai Kick-boxing going on all day.

For a festival that starts at 10am and lasts till 6pm, it is one that is jam packed with stuff to do and see. It is a lot of fun and every year it seems to get better and better. What will the festival have in store for San Francisco next year? Who knows, come out to find out.

The Asian Pacific American Heritage Awards kicked off the Asian Heritage Month here in San Francisco at the Herbst Theatre in Civic Center. The Awards ceremony first started with classical music by cellist Charles Wang. The evening progressed with the granting of awards to the following from local dignitaries:

For Emerging Leadership: Thomas Li

For Lifetime Achievement: Dr. Edward Chow

For Community Impact: Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center

Throughout the award ceremony three performances took to the stage with a glow stick performance, a Southern Asian dance troupe, and folk dance from a Burmese group. The finale for the awards ceremony was remarkable with community involvement from all parts of Asia, including that of Vietnam, China, Japan, Pacific Islanders, Burma, South Asia, and many others. The finale was very colorful, not to mention very entertaining.

Following the awards ceremony was a time of Asian styled refreshments from local restaurants and sponsors on the second floor of the War Memorial Building. The food was delicious and the attendance was great. Ending off the night with food and mingling, what more can one ask for. Congratulations to all the award winners and thank you to all the sponsors who made this night possible.

Pictures of the Asian Pacific American Heritage Awards can be seen by clicking on the picture link above. If this post was informative and helpful, please feel free to leave me a comment or donation below. Thank you.

The First Noodle Festival took to the streets of San Francisco in two neighboring districts, North Beach and Chinatown. Each community creates their own awesome style of noodle on a daily basis, but which noodle reigns supreme of the community from which they are from. The Noodle Fest was brought to you buy the Chinatown Community Development Center and North Beach Merchants Association. Many showed up for this event for its first running and I believe it will not be its last.

The festival was held on Grant Street between the Pacific and Vallejo Streets. On each end of the festival were two great bands. On the Pacific Street Stage was Jest Jammin. A cover-band known for their funk and jazzy hits of the late 70s and 80s. On the Vallejo Street Stage was the MS Collective jazz band.

Throughout the event there were a couple of live demonstrations on how to make two types of noodles/pasta. Chef Shen demonstrated to the audience on how to make Shanghai dumplings, while Chef Carventz demonstrated how to roll out some pasta and make ravioli. Both demonstrations were pretty interesting.

The food at the festival was a hit with samplings from six vendors for $15 pre-ordered or $20 at the fest. Many vendors at the festival did not anticipate the high volume of supporters and thus did not have enough pasta to distribute to paying consumers. Nonetheless, I can tell by the all the faces that everyone was pleased by the great food and fun that they had. Perhaps next year, the festival will grow in size and more demonstrations will be featured on perhaps how to cook certain dishes. Until next year, we will see what happens. If the festival is put on again, make sure you venture out and tastes what North Beach and Chinatown have to offer.

Pictures of the Noodle Fest can be seen by clicking on the picture link above. If this post was informative and helpful, please feel free to leave me a comment or donation below. Thank you.

The US Japan Taiko Festival was held this year at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas located in San Francisco’s Japantown. In the largest theater the taiko drumming groups performed two separate sets, but the finale both groups came together and played.

The show was open to the public and tickets were sold for $30 with a $5 discount towards students and seniors. The program featured Grand Master Seiichi Tanaka & San Francisco Taiko Dojo, SF Taiko Dojo Rising Stars and special guests from Japan were Hoya Wadaiko Kai and Bungo Kurenai Taiko.

The performance was pretty amazing. Synchronized drumming without any flaws is something that is hard to do. Practice makes perfect, one can say. Having two groups perform back to back was truly something special. In my opinion the performance was not long enough, but there’s always other shows and festivals to catch taiko drumming. The performance I believe was a great success because the seats were filled and guests seemed to enjoy the night by basking in the rhythms of taiko.

Having experienced this event for the first time, it is simply amazing. There’s a first for everything and listening to it outside in the streets of San Francisco is one thing, but listening to it inside of a movie theater is totally a new and different experience. If you would like to experience it please come and check it out next year or for upcoming events please check out the SF Taiko Dojo website at www.sftaiko.com

Pictures of the US Japan Taiko Festival  can be seen by clicking on the picture link above. If this post was informative and helpful, please feel free to leave me a comment or donation below. Thank you.