Seattle Center Hosts Asian-Pacific Islander Heritage Month Celebration 5/1

Seattle Center Festál: Asian-Pacific Islander (API) Heritage Month Celebration offers exploration and insights into the culture of Asian and Pacific Islanders residing in the region. The fesitval is held on Sunday, May 1, and kicks off Asian-Pacific Islander Heritage Month. The event runs from 12 noon to 5:30 p.m.

Experience the rich cultures of the Asian-Pacific Islander communities through song, dance, music and art. The festival launches API Heritage Month in Seattle with youth drill teams, martial arts, Taiko drummers, cultural dance groups, and other performers from our diverse communities.

The celebration will feature FlowEthics, a Los Angeles based Asian-American hip-hop group. They have been wowing audiences mostly in Southern California for the past four years. With their smooth beat and clever lyrics they have been compared to The Black Eyed Peas.

Other local performers include:

Apna Bhangra Crew
Blue Lotus
Cambodian Dance Preservation Troupe
Chinese Community Girls Drill Team
Connie Sugahara (Fujima School of Dance)
Filipino Youth Activities Drill Team
Fraggle Rock Crew
Kaze Daiko Taiko
Ke Liko A"e O Lei Lehua
Korean Dance Troupe
Nepal Seattle Society Dance Troupe
Seattle Matsuri Taiko
Tearama - Tahitian Group
U.W. Lambda Phi Epsilon Step Dancers
Vovinam Martial Arts, and more...

The event also features API Celebration Art Contest winners, displays by the Franklin High School Team Xbot and WPPC Nepal Foundation, and a children's table by the API Women and Family Safety Center.

The 21 Seattle Center Festál cultural celebrations highlight The Common forms of tradition and expression among ethnic communities in the Pacific Northwest, while underscoring their unique creative contributions, customs, foods and ideals. Each event offers moving entertainment and fascinating insight into a different culture of the world.

Seattle Center Festál: Asian-Pacific Islander Heritage Month Celebration is presented by Seattle Center in partnership with the Asian-Pacific Directors Coalition. For more information on this event, please visit seattleapi.com or contact Peter Tsai at 206 351-0313 or for information on other Seattle Center programming, click on www.seattlecenter.com or call 206 684-7200.

About Seattle Center Festál
Seattle Center Festál, a series of 21 world festivals presented at Seattle Center throughout 2011, highlights the distinct cultures and common threads of ethnic communities in our region through traditional and contemporary art, music, foods, youth activities, workshops and more. This collection of cultural events is produced with the generous support of Wells Fargo, Verizon Wireless and KUOW 94.9 Public Radio. Additional support is provided by Seattle Center Foundation and the City of Seattle.