OCEANSIDE — The city celebrated a wide range of cultures for the inaugural Southern California Asian and Pacific Islander Festival on April 29 in downtown Oceanside.
Hundreds of people helped kick off the day’s opening events, far exceeding the expectations of festival co-creators Kevin Shin and Ilima Kam Martinez. The turnout was so good some of the vendors ran out of food.
The idea to have a festival that focused on Asian and Pacific Islander cultures was the brainchild of Shin, who realized more education about different Asian cuisines and cultures was needed after opening The Switchboard, a Korean and Hawaiian fusion restaurant, in 2020.
“The goal is to not only celebrate who we are but to invite people who don’t know much about our cultures to come, take in the festival and learn,” Shin said.
Shin met Martinez, who leads Kahai Halau O ‘Ilima Pa ‘Olapa Kahiko, a traditional hula school in Vista when his wife and children began performing in the group.
The pair formulated plans to create a festival celebrating Asian and Pacific Island cultures, with help from community partners like Oceanside Museum of Art executive director Maria Mingalone, Oceanside library director CJ DiMento, Visit Oceanside, Oceanside Chamber of Commerce and others.
Held in one of California’s 14 designated cultural districts, the festival highlighted a multitude of cultures — Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Samoan, Hawaiian and Filipino — through food, martial arts, performances and art. The festival’s theme was the spirit of the rabbit, a symbol of longevity, peace, and prosperity in many Asian cultures.
Shin, who is Korean, gave a figurative “gold medal” to the Japanese cultural presence at the festival for its ikebana floral designs and sake tasting at the museum, powerful taiko drum series and martial arts demonstrations by San Diego sumo club, Honu Sum.
Los Angeles-based art instructor Hi Shin, Kevin Shin’s father, displayed his calligraphy and minhwa paintings, a traditional Korean folk art, at the festival.
Martinez’s hula school kicked off the day with several traditional and contemporary hulas featuring multiple generations of dancers. Shin’s wife and children were among the performers.
Martinez, a mixture of Hawaiian, Chinese, Japanese and Mexican, enjoyed experiencing the festival’s blend of both Asian and Pacific cultures. While often lumped together as part of the census and other data sets, the various cultures are incredibly unique, Martinez said.
After putting this year’s festival together in just a few months, Martinez and Shin hope to scale up the festival next year with more time to plan and expand its program.
“We knew this was going to be a great event that will have a lasting impact on the community,” Martinez said. “We’re really looking forward to next year.”
