Celebrate Asian and Pacific Islander (API) Heritage Month with family and friends at Alameda’s beautiful, new Bohol Circle Immigrant Park! Feel the resonant sounds of the kulintang from the Philippines, enjoy the gentle sway of Hawaiian hula, and hear the vibrant stringed instruments from Vietnam – all while enjoying the beautiful waterfront views.
Experience hands on art activities for youth with the Alameda Education Foundation and Swings & Wings. Mouthwatering Asian and Pacific inspired foods available for purchase.
The PAL in the Parks API Festival is produced in partnership with the City of Alameda’s Public Art Commission, Recreation and Parks Department and Forward Alameda.
*RSVP to receive festival updates and be entered in a drawing to win cool prizes! One entry per email. Must be present to win.
Featured Performers
Vân-Ánh Vanessa Võ
Vietnamese Traditional Instruments and New Music
A fearless musical explorer, Vân-Ánh Võ is an award-winning performer of the 16-string đàn tranh (zither) and an Emmy Award-winning composer who has collaborated with Kronos Quartet, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, and Yo-Yo Ma. In addition to her mastery of the đàn tranh, she also plays the monochord (đàn bầu), bamboo xylophone (đàn t’rung), traditional drums (trống) and many other instruments to create music that blends the wonderfully unique sounds of Vietnamese instruments with other genres, and fuses deeply rooted Vietnamese musical traditions with fresh new structures and compositions.
Manilatown Kulintang Ensemble
Music & Dance from the Southern Philippines
This dynamic ensemble presents the pre-colonial music, dance, and attire traditions of Mindanao, Southern Philippines. All trained in the traditional manner by indigenous Philippine culture bearers, the Manilatown Kulintang Ensemble musicians and dancers take pride in introducing people of all ages to the joyful and unifying power of tribal Philippine polyrhythmic percussion music, song and dance.
Hālau Makana
Hawaiian, Tahitian and Maori Music & Dance
Hālau Makana’s mission is to preserve the Hawaiian, Tahitian, and Māori cultures through dance, art and music, sharing these cultural art forms with the community and anyone who has a desire to learn.
Hālau Makana is the only professional Polynesian Dance Company located in Alameda, California.
Hands-on Art Activities:
Chinese Character Drawings with the Alameda Education Foundation
Did you know that many cultures in Asia incorporate traditional Chinese characters, known as Hanzi, into their written languages? And these characters often look like the words they represent. Brushstrokes become branches in the word “tree”. Flames appear in the character for “fire” and peaks form in the word “mountain”. Use crayons, markers, colored pencils, and your creativity to create beautiful illustrations, weaving these traditional characters into drawings of the words they represent.
Click here for more information about the Alameda Education Foundation.
South Asian Arts with Swings & Wings
Explore, play, learn and grow with Swings & Wings! Delight your senses in the multicultural sensory bin, create colorful salt rangoli, and print beautiful patterns with Indian block stamping.
Swings and Wings is an indoor sensory-based play place in Alameda for kids between 6 months to 8 years, designed and owned by Occupational Therapist, Sadiya Kazi-Koya. Swing and Wings encourages each child to find their wings and soar, and each parent to take flight with them!
