After a long pandemic, the vibrant and most diverse city of Berkeley attracted lots of local and Bay area Asian communities together for the first-ever Asian Cultural festival initiated by Dharma College and the Downtown Berkeley Association. According to most of the participants, the event was full of colorful Dances and live performances with authentic food sampling of participating organizations. Nepali Sel Roti and on-the-spot steamed momo attracted the foodies of Berkeley. Major Participating groups representing Thai, Japanese, Nepali, Burmese and Indian cultures had brought their authentic sampling dishes for sale.

The Cultural program started right after the visit of the City of Berkeley’s mayor Mr.Jesse Arreguín who personally visited and welcomed participating organizations with his welcome note. Other speakers were John Caner, Rigel R, and Kate H. The Dances and music performances starter at noon with the Berkeley Thai Temple’s dance followed by Fremont Thai temple. After a short break and DJ, Nepalis Dancers came to the stage with a series of more than seven folks and remixed Dances from the small kids to young adult dancers followed by Lakhe Dance. This Mask dance is one of the most ancient dances of a demon in the carnival of God, it is one of the cultural symbols of the Newar indigenous community of Nepal. It is mostly performed live in the crowds on the last day of Indra Jatra. For the first time ever Nepalis organizations, Buddha Nepal peace foundation represented the Nepali art, culture, and food with other Asian and Buddhist communities in Downtown Berkeley. in the event lots of Nepali community leaders, social workers and students were present. Peace foundation’s President Chinkaji Shrestha handed over the certificate of appreciation to all the Nepali dancers and performers. Just before ending the festival live Performance of Taiko attracted the crows, a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments played with action and tricks. The event concluded at 3PM but crowds were still hanging around.