A monthlong celebration of Lexington’s Asian American-Pacific Islander culture kicks off Friday evening. This is a follow-up to an inaugural celebration last year.
There were a couple of AAPI events in the Lexington area in 2023. Lexington Vice Mayor Dan Wu said this year there are weekend activities planned throughout May. Wu said for what he considers a very diverse multicultural community, there hasn’t been a lot to reflect the culture, values, and arts of Asian American-Pacific Islanders out in the public sphere in Lexington.
“So to have these kinds of celebrations where people can show up and enjoy art and music and performance and food I think is really really important for us to be seen as part of the fabric of the City,” said Wu.
Wu said this spring’s lineup is much broader than the inaugural event a year ago which had a couple of events. He called this year’s planning a “labor of love.”
“Everybody that’s involved is not getting paid for it. We’re doing fundraising. We’re booking all these acts. We’re gonna pay all of our artists. We’re gonna pay all our performers from our fundraising. And it’s all just volunteer organizers, people with busy lives and jobs just putting in a lot of time to create this,” said Wu.
The monthlong celebration kicks off at Moondance Amphitheater with dance, other performances, Taekwondo, and food trucks. The following weekends will include poetry, tea tasting, and movies.
For a listing of the weekend events this month go to the Get HAAPI Facebook page
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