Festival 13

The 13th Asian American Day Festival, with Blue Ocean Realty (波士頓地產網) as title sponsor, opened on Saturday, September 9, 2023, on Boston Common.

Opening and parade

Guests at the opening included State Senator Marc Pacheco, Senator Will Brownsberger, Boston City Council President Ed Flynn, Chen Junchao and Consul Chen Qufeng of the Consulate General of the People’s Republic of China in New York, Consul General Kim Jae-hee of the Republic of Korea in Boston, and Qin Yaling, president of the Asian American Economy Alliance.

At 11:00 a.m., a celebratory parade of 22 community groups and schools — including AAAB, Newton Chinese Language School, and the Guangzhou Association of Boston — returned to the grounds. Under Ling Guo, artistic director of AADay, 76 members of the Boston Eastern Heritage Chorus, young singer Mirabel Weston, and the audience sang the U.S. national anthem together.

Stage

Professional groups and artists from the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, India, Ukraine, and elsewhere presented thirty-five culturally distinct programs.

Chen Yimiao — songwriter and a grand-slam winner of China’s top three professional erhu competitions — played a new arrangement of the erhu piece “Horse Racing.” Students of the Angel Dance School Art Troupe performed “Dunhuang Murals.” Teenage members of the New England Martial Arts Academy demonstrated traditional Chinese sword and saber work. Moly Qin, 2017 Top Idol champion from Las Vegas’s Dongsen Television, sang “At Your Best.”

After their sets, groups including the Hu Qing Lion Dance Team, the Boston Chinese Cultural Association, and the Philippine ISKWELAHANG PILIPINO dance troupe offered on-the-spot teaching of lion dance, diabolo, and bamboo-pole dance.

Booths and side programs

Long-standing partners such as Blue Ocean Realty, Lun Fat Food Company, and Chengchuang Education returned, joined by newer partners including Karma Asian Fusion Group, More Fun, and Tao’s Beauty. Twelve food-and-beverage vendors served milk tea, desserts, snacks, and grilled skewers. Beauty, cultural-creative, and service booths also drew a steady line.

Organizers’ mahjong and chess tables unexpectedly attracted local passersby. A white woman student from Boston University, after several rounds, beat three friends and became the afternoon’s informal “mahjong champion.”

The newly joined Boston Asian Motorcycle Club showed their motorcycles; engine noise drew photo-takers and, in the printed review, stood for the community’s nerve. Young reporters led by Principal Liang Nan of Newton Chinese Language School interviewed visitors and guests.

Consul General Kim Jae-hee said he had been told he was invited to a “small-scale” community festival — “but wow, this is such a large-scale event with so many people!”

The 13th AADay kept the mission “uniting Asian American ethnic groups and beautifying the community” and put extra weight on culture and play for every visitor.

This page is a recap of a festival that has already taken place. It is not an upcoming-event notice.

Festival photos and partner logos on this page also come from the 13th AADay gallery on the previous site (https://aaaboston.org/13-aaday). Recap figures stay those of the printed review. That old page had no volunteer list.