CEDARBURG — A new one-day festival celebrating Asian culture is coming to Cedarburg this summer, bringing a marketplace, games and traditional music and dance to the Ozaukee County Fairgrounds on June 13.
WATCH: How a festival aims to connect Milwaukee and Sheboygan's Hmong communities
The Wisconsin Asian Summer Festival is being organized by the Hmong Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce, which chose Ozaukee County in part for its location between two of the state's largest Hmong communities in Milwaukee and Sheboygan.
"We have a lot of business and impact into the economy right now, but we don't necessarily have the platforms to uplift and leverage and say 'hey, like, we are here,'" Kristy Vang of the Hmong Wisconsin Chamber of Commerce said.
The festival arrives on the heels of May's Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and adds to Cedarburg's established summer festival calendar, which already includes Strawberry Fest and Wine and Harvest Fest.
"The amenities. The availability, and again building that bridge because we could have did something in the Greater Milwaukee area, but we wanted to bridge that community from the urban to something that's a little more suburban," Vang said.
Among the vendors attending will be Fong Hmooj Vang, who is bringing his West Allis custom apparel business to the event.
"We represent our Hmong communities with some symbols and motifs that really represent our people," Fong Hmooj Vang said. "We have a huge presence here, and we're about to contribute so much to the community."
Cedarburg residents say they are eager to welcome the new event. Neighbor Molly Peterson said the city's festivals are part of what draws people to the area.
"It brings a lot of people back to the community, and I feel it's why a lot of people move here too," Peterson said. "People would love to come to it and try something new."
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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