How Two Friends Launched One of Austin’s Largest Lunar New Year Celebrations | Eater Austin

"At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, watercolor illustrator Kathy Phan and her friend Pei Sim — motivated by rising anti-Asian sentiment and violence — created a Lunar New Year celebration in East Austin to provide a space for connection and to "support other women makers," as Phan puts it: "We thought, ‘What could we do to support other women makers?’" Phan (of Vietnamese descent) and Sim (of Chinese descent) wanted to highlight the diversity of their cultures and the art they make, noting that people of Asian descent owning small businesses in the arts can be seen as "untraditional" and that "We’re often encouraged to pursue math, science, or medicine," she says. The inaugural festival drew about 1,500 people who shopped more than 30 Asian-owned vendors and stayed for a winding parade of lion and dragon dance performances; Phan recalls tearing up seeing so many community members come out and says, "To me, as someone of Asian descent, this is my most meaningful work," adding that "it was not only people of Asian American descent" but also "people who grew up in East Austin community, black and brown people, who wanted to see what we were all about." Now in its fourth year, the festival returns on Sunday, February 2 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. with more than 40 vendors (fine arts, ceramics, jewelry, cottage bakers, candles, hair accessories and more), food vendors including Greater Goods Coffee, Lao’d Bar, Saigon Hospitality, Sate Texas Indonesian BBQ, and food trailer Thai Fresh, and baked-goods highlights from Cookie Wookie Kitchen (White Rabbit Madeleines and Lunar New Year–specific cookies) and Pippa’s Homebackery (known to sell out of its ube caramel cake). The organizers have booked lion performances at noon and 2 p.m. and programmed family-friendly activities like arts and crafts, bilingual book readings from local authors, and face painting — "It’s so important to show kids the importance of diversity and celebrating different cultures, and supporting each other, especially this year, with the changes taking place," says Phan. General admission is donation-based to cover event expenses (performances, printing, festival fees); a limited $45 VIP ticket (prime viewing for lion dances and vendor-filled tote bags) sold out. A portion of proceeds is donated to Asian Family Support Services of Austin and Austin Against Hate’s platform, We All Belong; attendees can RSVP on Eventbrite." - Brittany Britto Garley