Asian Festival

Always have a blast at the Asian Festival. Good food, entertainment, and we spend hours exploring each year. We like to grab some food and grab a seat on the grass in the park and enjoy some food. We have been attending for well over 10 years, only time we have missed was when it was cancelled during Covid. I would absolutely recommend and it so educational to see the different countries, heritage, art, and cultures represented.

I've always enjoyed the Asian Festival. It's held during Memorial Day weekend in Franklin Park. It's a great opportunity to celebrate the diverse Asian communities of Columbus. There are live performances, vendors, and food. My problem with the festival when I attended in May 2023 is that attendance has really grown, but vendors and space haven't. The lines for food were crazy long. Everywhere we walked, it just felt very overcrowded. Maybe it's time to consider a new venue and a way to entice more vendors to participate.

*Actual Asian review here*As an Asian person, it makes me happy that the Asian Festival is such a big event in Columbus, but it is overall underwhelming and not really made for Asian people. Walking through the stalls, it felt more like a high school international fair than an actual celebration. Stalls signifying different countries would post and explain very basic facts about their country, and provide activities like transcribing your name into x language or face paint, which I find kind of problematic. I think it's great for non-Asian kids to learn the very basics of different cultures and get exposed to them, but don't expect very authentic experiences or food if you're Asian or educated on Asian cultures at all.The one great resource they had for Asian people was in an indoor facility. There's a free health screening booth and various educational booths, especially catered toward immigrants and those without healthcare. I was very glad to see these resources here, although they're only available earlier in the day.It's not completely the festival's fault, but I hated how much it felt like an excuse to culturally appropriate, whether that was non-Asian people showing up in culturally appropriated clothing or even buying this clothing from some of the vendors. The vendors definitely should have been limited and selected more intentionally. Whereas some were authentic and truly worthwhile - such as handmade ethnic jewelry or fans - some of them had cheap AliExpress, vaguely "Asian" themed items. Some just had anime items. (I love anime, but this obviously is not an accurate way to represent or showcase Asians or the Asian diaspora.) It was actually appalling the amount of white people I saw purchasing and wearing rice farmer hats just as a gag. I don't really understand what other purpose they would have been sold for here. Gave similar vibes to the people waiting in line for Thai food, gagging over the thought of the octopus on the menu.Lastly, the food vendors. My partner and I (both Asian) were sorely disappointed by this section. At least 3 different food trucks offered almost an identical selection of AMERICAN "Asian" food, such as lo mein. There were 2-3 Thai stalls with only one offering what I consider Americanized food. Several Americanized Chinese food stalls. Having AN option of each makes sense to me at a festival expecting mostly non-Asian people, but it's as if the organizers did not care for there to be authentic food at all or to avoid repetition. There are so many incredible, authentic, Asian-owned restaurants in Columbus (check my reviews!), but I saw none of them represented and very very little diversity in the food. This would have been such a great opportunity to showcase these businesses and foods, while exposing the audience to actual culture... but for the most part, they dropped the ball.Ultimately, I don't write this to detract from or attack an Asian-run event aiming to promote education and cultural awareness. I aim to give constructive feedback and offer the organizers as well as non-Asian attendees a different mindset when approaching an event like this. It has a lot of potential, and I hope to see it grow, prosper, and evolve into something that serves all communities, including Asian ones, and represent our cultures respectfully and intentionally.Ingat!

This was our first time visiting the Asian Festival, and overall it was OK.The website was hard to navigate, but eventually you could find some useful information (especially about parking). They had several lots available to park in at no charge with shuttles to take you to and from the festival. There was a bit of a wait for the shuttle on the return, though, but not too bad.The festival overall had a somewhat haphazard, disorganized ambiance. There was a pretty large outdoor area with assorted vendors including some very non-Asian vendors (State Farm) and marginally Asian (Acura, Honda). I thought there would be more cute Asian merchandise, crafts, etc. to buy, but there didn't seem to be much in this regard (unless we missed it). They had a lot of booths with kid-oriented things, and inside there were some cultural displays and a small stage for cultural performances. There was a very large outdoor food court of sorts with a whole variety of food and beverages. We tried two of the egg rolls from a specialty egg roll company (I forget the name). They were $5 each and mostly stuffed with cabbage rather than meat. Not terrible but not worth $5. The Vietnamese iced coffee from a different vendor was also pretty good, but very overpriced for $5 as well for about a Starbucks grande size.They had a large outdoor stage with continuous performances, but it was just too hot and humid to sit and watch them. Overall not a bad experience but far from amazing; maybe they could plan it about a month earlier, though, before the weather gets so hot and humid.

I've always love going to to Asian festival so much wonderful food. This year i notice that security was more enforced. I also enjoy the shows and to learn about the Asian culture.My Wife love to shop at the market place and find lots of those hidden gems. I think the food prices are reasonable especially egg rolls, crab rangoon, the beverages. My wife loved the strawberry lemonade it was nice and refreshing on a hot summer day. My favorite was the lumpia which we found at a Philippine vendor. Looking forward to next year where I think I'll be a little more adventurous and try different foods.

I'm so underwhelmed. This is the second time we have come to the Asian Festival and neither time left us with much of a positive impression. It's hot. It's crowded. Steamed buns are $8 each. Bahn mi is $10. Lines are really long. It's set up awkwardly. Parking is a pain. Franklin Park is really pretty. I'd rather get some Chinese Beef Noodle soup and come for my own picnic than visit this lackluster "festival".

A bit disappointing to be honest. I was looking forward to going to the Asian festival , but really nothing was really good -- the shops were okay, not to my taste anyway, and the food was pretty ordinary. Basically, most of the food tents had some version of bbq chicken on skewers and some noodle dishes, etc. I was initially excited that they had coconut water and sugarcane juice, but both were big disappointments. The sugarcane was artificially sweetened and tasted like it had gone bad, and the coconut water was not sweet at all. The saving grace was that some of the cultural events (music and dance) were performed by kids, and that was nice to watch.

My first time attending a major festival here in Columbus, and it was one of apprehension, excitement and amusement.I didn't know what to really expect from the Asian Festival. Funny enough, when I first heard the name being tossed around, I was irked by it. I was born and raised in California, and had lived in Asia for some time. I'm not sure if a clumping of Asian cultures into one festival would be as well received in those areas! It encompasses over half the world's population so I struggle to see how one festival can truly reflect that diversity and history.Nonetheless, having been a festival lasting 20 years that aims to showcase the rich diverse cultures of Asian civilizations, I wondered if its intent has shifted at all since its conception. Overall as a festival, it gets the job done. There are plenty of cultural performances, a space where you can learn about immigration patterns of Asian Americans into Columbus (and this I loved!), as well as plenty of food!It may be my programming senses tingling from my background working with students on college campuses, but the festival itself seems to play on simply food and cultural dance to represent the ethnic diversity among Asians. I did however appreciate the fact that there was a good mix of food, with some being better than others... ie the Indonesian Rendang was not bad, but how did the Okinawa booth not serve Okinawan cuisine? I digress.I'd like to see this festival expand and change up its programming a bit. Aside from simply presenting itself as an introduction to Asian cultures, perhaps detail more of current struggles of Asian Americans or invite community organizations around Columbus and the Midwest that work with these populations to come and educate the community.Asian culture is more than just food and dance, and I would love to see new steps be taken to strengthen and grow Columbus as a whole.It's a family fun event, but let's take it a little bit further next year.

Holy moly, what fantastic weather for this Fest. This was my first time at AF. So many things going for it! First off, I enjoyed this afternoon way more having this festival being held at Franklin Park (as opposed to Goodale Park). Lots more space to spread out. Tons more shade - with the cool breeze going and bright blue sky, couldn't have asked for better weather. A friend and I headed straight for the food vendors first. After taking stalk of all the offerings, I decided on a Philippine dish of Lechon Kawali: Fried Pork and noodles. I wish to the 'inth degree this vender had a restaurant, or even a food truck at least. The cooked pork belly was pure perfection. Cooked to a slightly crisp outside; soft and chewy meat. 100% scrumptious flavor!!The noodle side dish (that came with the combo) was also great. Not overly seasoned. A perfect ying to yang. I was dying to try a few more dishes from other venders but I was quite full, and time wouldn't permit that plan. I definitely will be back next year!!

A celebration of all things Asian takes place over Memorial Day weekend on the beautiful grounds of the Franklin Park Conservatory . More than 15 different countries and cultures are represented, including Bengalis, Burmese, Cambodian, Chinese, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Lao, Malays, Singaporean, Pakistan, Filipino, Thais and Vietnamese. The Marketplace is a little underwhelming with vendors selling chatzkes that you can find at any Pier One Imports or bargain store, though some stalls do offer original services or information about different Asian groups and organizations. The entertainment schedule is impressive. It's loaded with dancers, actors, singers, drummers, choruses and martial arts groups performing on a few different stages and an outdoor amphiteater throughout the day and evening. I was mesmerized by the costumes and really enjoyed seeing traditional dances from Cambodia, Burma and Japan, and particularly enjoyed the Bhuddist chanting. The "food court" area offers the whole gamut of Asian food- which, in and of itself, makes attending the festival totally worth while! Local Asian resturants set up stalls and serve up some of their best sellers. Tables are strewn around the stages & park, but most folks just plop down in the grass and enjoy their food picnic style.Across the board, I enjoyed the Asian Festival but was partially annoyed with the effort it took to get there in terms of parking and shuttling. Other than that, it was worth the effort. Especially since it is a free festival and family-friendly. It's a great experience to be exposed to other, perhaps unfamiliar cultures. I will definitely go again, but with slightly different expectations.