For the first time ever, Connecticut welcomed over 600 food vendors, over 50 Asian merchant pop-ups and live performances to Hartford’s Mortensen Riverfront Plaza for PandaFest. The festival kicked off on Sept. 27 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and ended on Sept. 28.
This Asian festival is a celebration of heritages from Japan to Indonesia, and a destination for Connecticut foodies. Every ticket to the festival included an inflatable panda headband, a panda fan and a custom Connecticut pin.
Yixing Wang, a first-time worker at PandaFest, described it as “an Asian festival with Asian culture and tons of food.” She worked at the panda merchandise section, with everything from panda-themed keychains to stuffed animals. Her experience at the event has been nothing short of amazing.
“I really like it, the people are really nice,” she said. “I’m just having fun! Don’t think too much and spend all day here.”
The festival, originally a spin-off event from Dragon Fest in New York City, has expanded to cities all over the U.S. PandaFest was created by New York City native Biubiu Xu. She wanted to bring her love for food and Asian culture together, so for two years she worked to create a team that could fulfill her dreams of bringing Asian culture all over the country, Xu said in an interview with Vogue.
Attendees Makayla Quinn and Hannah Vu said they came to PandaFest for the wide variety of food.
“I feel like it’s making things fun while celebrating Asian culture as a whole. It’s really nice to see everyone from different ethnic backgrounds come to try foods and experience different things. I think it’s a really beautiful and really fun thing and it’s very inclusive” Quinn said.
Some cuisines at the festival included sushi tacos, spicy chicken noodles and bao buns. In comparison to other cultural festivals, Quinn said, “This is definitely more upbeat and more welcoming in a sense, because there’s a lot more people here of different backgrounds. This is a much more family-friendly environment, which I really like.”
Walking through the festival grounds, people from all cultures and backgrounds were seen laughing and dancing together.
Vu said a moment she would remember from the event is “first walking in and seeing everything.”
“The headbands, too, are cute,” Vu said.