WEST BEND, Wis. — The Washington County community is planning its first-ever festival showcasing Asian American and Pacific Islander culture in West Bend this month.
The event, called "Global Fest," aims to celebrate the diverse AAPI communities and share their heritage with local residents. Downtown West Bend Association is planning the street festival which will take place June 28-29.
"This is an opportunity for us to especially inform others that the AAPI community is so much larger than just one large group," Hmong Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce Maysee Herr said. " There are so many sub-communities."
Chris Gan, who serves as administrator of the North American Chinese School and Taiwan Center for Mandarin Learning in Wisconsin, believes sharing cultures is essential.
"Do not leave your knowledge with yourself only; always give it to the next generation," he said. "That is what we do. We always pass it down to the next generation because that is the ethical way of doing things."
The festival will feature food, music, and art to give attendees a firsthand experience of different AAPI cultures.
"Because if I don't spread my culture or my knowledge, what good is my culture or my knowledge?" Gan said. "To understand the real culture is to meet the person in person, not through media, not indirectly, but through person-to-person relationships."
Watch: Community leaders spearhead West Bend's inaugural Global Fest celebrating AAPI cultures
Herr is excited to see an event celebrating AAPI heritage and highlighting the diversity within Washington County.
"We all have different stories," she said. "Some of us came over as refugees, and others came over because they wanted to live what they heard was the American dream."
Herr hopes Global Fest will showcase these differences while building connections between cultures.
"But also to teach, enjoy some good food, share those commonalities, but also share how we're different. I think that is just so important. It makes it so it's not so threatening," Herr said. "It makes it easier for people to have conversations, laugh, cry, and to be mad together or whatever the situation might be. That's how those connections start."
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