Asian American Neighborhood Festival celebrates 15 years

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - 15 years. That is how many years the Asian American Neighborhood Festival has been going on for. But Asian American History dates back hundreds of years before that.

"We are so proud to bring our community out here to celebrate the rich history that our community has, especially in the Presidio area here," said Terease Chin, Asian American Neighborhood Festival Coordinator.

Presented by the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation, the free-family event celebrates the Asian American communities that once blossomed in the surrounding areas of the Santa Barbara Presidio neighborhood.

The festival included crafts, shopping and performances with some of the performers in their 10th year. Attendees had the chance to watch lion dancing and hula dancing, while learning the history of it all.

"This is a cultural day to honor Asian American the neighborhood festival, and to see all of the people here, the children," said Chin. "I was just talking to a parent who said this is the first time that her child is learning more about the lion dance, and that this is something that they can go home and talk about, the significance of the lion dance in the Asian, the Chinese community."

We spoke to one local vendor who shared what it meant to be at the festival.

"We're very, very happy to be here, part of this wonderful celebration of bringing the Santa Barbara community together to kind of recognize and remember the Asian American history in Santa Barbara," said Kathy Minh Bach.

Kathy Minh Bach is the co-founder of Kaarem, a boutique that can be found in Santa Barbara.

"We've curated a selection of books and jewelry, and objects and ceramics and art by a lot of BIPOC designers and many of them are API makers," said Minh Bach.

In 2008 Jimmys Oriental Garden was bought by the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation. Today, it's opened as Three Pickles Subs and the Pickle Room bar. The current tenant has fully restored the Pickle Room to the original look of Jimmy's Oriental Garden. For one Sunday out of the year, Pickle Room Bar opens for those who want to go into the bar and see the history.