May 28: Columbus Asian Festival

Over Memorial Day weekend Columbus' Franklin Park Conservatory played host to the Asian Festival. I was quite excited to check out this festival as I was hoping to chow down on some traditional Asian food. In the end it was slightly disappointing.

First of all there were some positive aspects of the festival. Mainly they had a large performance stage presenting traditional dances and music etc. Before I get any further I suppose I should specify that the day we went was incredibly hot. Furthermore hundreds of people crowded into the little festival, making it seem even more hot. So I suppose this may account for most of negative impressions of the festival. For example these performances may have been interesting but the heat deterred us from watching for long.

As expected the festival included both a food court area as well as various stalls selling 'Asian stuff.' The biggest disappointment was that most of the food stalls were just your typical Americanized Asian food, the same stuff you can buy at Panda Express. We ate at a stand with Filipino food. The food was good but lacked the robust flavor of typical Asian foods. It was most likely watered down for American tastes.

The lines for all the food stalls were ridiculously long. What's more, after waiting in line for 20 - 30 minutes, when we placed our order at a different stand we found they were out of what we wanted. All in all, because of the extreme heat and ridiculous amount of people (especially teenagers) we did not stay long.

Columbus International Festival

Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit. - Jawaharlal Nehru

I love going to festivals. Irish Festivals, Renaissance Festivals, Popcorn Festivals. Though not always true to their original cultural origins, I think they are often a great way to experience something different, but close to home. This past weekend in Columbus was the International Festival. According to the festival's website approximately 75 different cultures are represented.

Scandinavian Salmon Chowder

First, some things I didn't like. My main complaint is that the festival is not very large. The room the stands were held in is quite large and there were many left-over open spaces that could have been filled with additional booths. With an admission price of $7 for adults and $5 for students I expected more content. Similarly, the food choices consisted mainly of Chinese and Indian fare. It would have been interesting to see a wider variety of cultural cuisine. Finally, I feel like much of the food and products for sale were not completely genuine or authentic. Good booths presented a more educational look at the presented culture but some booths were merely trying to hawk fake cultural replicas and cheap jewelry. 

The Dessert Dancers preforming during the festival.

All that being said the International Festival isn't all bad. There is also a stage that has constant entertainment groups preforming. I really enjoyed watching these preformances while we ate. Furthermore, this is cultural diplomacy at its finest, helping diverse cultural groups learn to connect. Sure, not everything you see is authentic, but the displays still offer a glimpse into the said culture. For example, a booth selling Asian artifacts consisted of mostly imitation jade statues. Though not genuine, it still the cultural importance of jade in Asian communities. Ultimately, I think the purpose of the International Festival is to ignite curiosity of different places and cultures. 

A delicious apple turnover the Juergen's Bakery and Restaurant booth.

Overall, I think the Columbus International Festival is best suited for children or adults who have not traveled abroad before. My honest opinion is that if you have been outside of the United States before, you will be disappointed by the festival. Paying $7 just probably isn't worth it for you. Kids, however, can get a 'passport' and collect stamps at different country exhibits. I saw a broad range of kids at the festival, both younger children through teens who all seemed to be having an enjoyable time.