ABOUT

We are proud to announce the upcoming Asian Cultural Festival of San Diego, celebrating the diversity of cultures, ethnicities, and peoples from Asia and the Pacific Islands in San Diego! This exciting new heritage and culture festival will be held on Saturday, May 8, 2010 at the NTC Park at Liberty Station and is San Diego's official celebration for Asian Pacific American Heritage Month

Goals

The Asian Cultural Festival of San Diego will 1) celebrate and unify the diversity of our Asian populations for Asian Heritage Month, 2) educate and share with non-Asians the arts and traditions of our ethnic populations to support and preserve cultural harmony, 3) build intergenerational and intercultural bridges across all barriers, 4) create awareness for the programs of Mabuhay Alliance that help underserved communities, and 5) generate funding to support those programs.

The Asian Cultural Festival Committee

Brian Thai

Brian has volunteered with SDAFF since 2009. He is a Vietnamese mix and is part of the Kumon learning center team. Brian continues to diversify himself in the art of political talks and Asian culture and has been a driving force in the Asian Cultural Festival. He attends Southwestern College with a major in Political Science and plans to transfer to San Diego State. He volunteers at the Pride Festival, helps APSA, and currently volunteers at PAC.

Chris Feraro

Cynthia Francisco

Cynthia Francisco is an alumnus of both UCSD and Point Loma Nazarene University. She earned her Bachelor’s in Human Development, Master’s in Education, and Credentials in Pupil Personnel Services. Her passion is in working as an adjunct counselor and a personal development instructor at Southwestern College, as well as coordinating weddings and community events, such as FilAmFest and the Asian Heritage Awards. An event producer in Silk Road Productions, Cynthia is always ready to take on any endeavor.

Dennis-Michael Broussard

Dennis-Michael Broussard, a New Orleans transplant, founded Silk Road Productions to create exciting and dynamic events. He has worked on or created a multitude of community events and he has produced fund raisers for numerous nonprofit organizations.

Edward Shaffer

Edward V. Shaffer, the man with many names, from Edward, Vincent, Vinnie, Vinnie chase, Shaffer, Chocó Pie, he is even known by Sparkles by many. Just who exactly is Edward V.Shaffer? Born in San Diego, Edward has been with the San Diego Asian Film Foundation (SDAFF) since 2008, starting from being an ordinary volunteer to becoming a theatre manger; he is now the facilities manager for the foundation.

Jeanette Di Pinza

Full Filipino yet Guam born and raised, Di Pinza joined the Temecula Valley International Film & Music Festival as a staff member in 2008, and although still staff, she has successfully weaned herself from mucho duties in the pursuit of more sleep, less stress and a chance to volunteer for the San Diego Asian Film Festival and San Diego Latino Film Festival. She dabbles in filmmaking - mainly as a screenwriter, producer or anonymous crew member - but is making her directorial debut with a short film soon.

Jimmy Lee

Seven-year San Diegan and a recent graduate of UCSD, Jimmy been involved with a variety of Cultural events in the area: such as the San Diego Asian Film Festival, the SD Jewish Film Festival, (most recently) the SD Latino Film Festival and of course, the SD Asian Cultural Festival. When not working Festivals - he can be found in front of his laptop at local coffee shops, researching for his next project to work on.

JR Melchor

Mark Gadia

Mark Gadia has been involved with the San Diego Asian Film Foundation since 2005. He joined as a volunteer and rose to his current position as one of the Volunteer Co-Coordinators for SDAFF. His involvement with SDAFF has inspired him to tell his own unique stories as an up and coming filmmaker. He is an avid sci-fi fan and isn't ashamed to admit that he saw the latest Star Trek film over ten times in a theater!

Megia Chou

Megia Chou is a graduate of Revelle College at UC San Diego, completing an International Studies degree. She has earned a Real Estate license, a bartending license, and a Certificate of Hypnotherapy. Megia was President and co-chair of two student clubs that focused on philanthropic work with a global reach, including Africa and Asia. Megia is an event producer in Silk Road Productions and she also works in the wedding and event planning industry and hopes to one day expand her services globally.

Pamela Huynh

Pamela Huynh, a first generation Asian-American and a San Diego native, is a graduate of San Diego State University with a B.S. in Business Management and a minor in English. Pamela has coordinated events for the Asian Business Association, San Diego Asian Film Festival, Reach Out and Read, San Diego Latino Film Festival and Delta Sigma Pi, a professional business fraternity. She is also an experienced event producer in Silk Road Productions.

Paula Le

Since transferring to San Diego State University, Paula Le has been involved with the Asian and Asian American community. She was part of the SDSU Asian Pacific Student Alliance and had volunteered at the San Diego Asian Film Festivals. Ms. Le has also been involved with ASIA, the Journal of Culture and Commerce and the 2009 Asian Heritage Awards. She enjoys the Star Wars franchise and Rocky movies (except Rocky V, that one was terrible).

Richie Edquid

Richie Edquid is a San Diego native who first entered into the events industry by heading local area. Taking this experience he helped in founding a local web lifestyle magazine. Having a background in leading street teams, web promotion, and event photography Richie started Rich and Creamy to begin producing night life events. Rich and Creamy quickly expanded to include representing talent in the fields of fashion, entertainment, art and media; community involvement and organizing; and continually backing both high profile and under the radar events.

Ruriko Sato

Ruriko Sato was born in Switzerland to Japanese parents, and moved from Austria to the United States three years ago. She has always been intrigued with Cultural Psychology, which she plans on majoring in alongside Event Management at SDSU. Ruriko enjoys passing her time volunteering at countless events such as at the BMX Nationals, ArtWalk, SDAFF, SDFF, StayClassy, PCI, Dining out for Life, and the ABA among many others.

Terry Matsuoka

Terry Matsuoka is a local musician and visual artist. He has performed at events like Street Scene, ArtWalk, Kollaboration and the San Diego Music Awards Acoustic Showcase. He has shown his work at San Diego State University, Ray At Night, the San Diego Art Institute and Oxford. These artistic endeavors have led him to organize events with his collective Crunchy Sandwich and also the San Diego Asian Film Festival.

ABOUT

Goals

Community Partners

The Asian Cultural Festival Committee