Grand Rapids Asian-Pacific Festival returns for 2021
Courtesy Grand Rapids Asian-Pacific Foundation
The fifth annual Grand Rapids Asian-Pacific Festival will take place from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Friday and Saturday at Calder Plaza, 250 Monroe Ave. NW in Grand Rapids.
The festival, which was canceled last year because of COVID-19, celebrates Asian and Pacific Island cultures through a variety of demonstrations, performances and vendors.
“It has been a tough year for a lot of people,” said Ace Marasigan, founder and CEO of the Grand Rapids Asian-Pacific Foundation. “After being unable to share our event last year, we are very excited to return to downtown and celebrate our rich cultures with the West Michigan community.”
For the first time since its 50-year inception, Festival of the Arts was forced to cancel last year but thankfully the event that brings the whole community together will be back next weekend.
Festival of the Arts is a FREE three-day event where people can enjoy food, music, family activities, and see all different types of art throughout downtown. This year s event is actually divided into two parts one scheduled for Friday, June 4 through Sunday, June 6th and the other part will take place this September.
So what will you see at the event next weekend? It s called Plein Air which means outdoors in French, and there will be Michigan artists doing live paintings of urban landscapes. Musicians will be stationed in the different social zones around Downtown. Unfortunately, there won t be the various amount of food booths that you re used to seeing. Instead, event organizers are encouraging everyone to eat at (or grab food from) a local restaurant or just get a drink and walk u