Umbrella Arts Festival celebrates AAPI heritage with vendors, cultural performances

Morton Grove resident Patty Wong didn't expect to spend her Saturday afternoon at the Umbrella Arts Festival. She and her friend were visiting Evanston and accidentally stumbled upon it, she said.

“We went to the farmers' market, and we happened to walk around,†Wong said. “It's beautiful. There's so many crafts, beautiful products. This event brings a lot of people here together.â€

With the festival now on her radar, Wong said she hopes to come back next year. 

Evanston Asian, South Asian, Pacific Islander American hosted the sixth iteration of the now annual Umbrella Arts Festival on Saturday afternoon. More than 70 food and artisan vendors lined Sherman Avenue to celebrate history, culture and art at the end of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

Although McCormick senior Tidapa Thampeera has attended the festival before, this was her first time as a vendor. Thampeera is the co-founder of Kinsco Cafe, which had a table featuring an array of Asian-inspired baked goods.

“There are a lot of people from different backgrounds in this festival, and it's nice to be able to create more exposure with our bakery,†Thampeera said.

Troupes from South Asian performing arts center Kalapriya and Lane Tech High School's Kapamilya Habang Buhay performed traditional dances, while other attendees lined up to try Chinese calligraphy via a pen and a tablet provided by the Chicago Tamkang University Alumni Association.

Evanston Asian, South Asian, Pacific Islander American hosted the sixth iteration of the now-annual Umbrella Arts Festival on Saturday afternoon.

Sara Wu, president of the alumni association and a volunteer with Evanston ASPA, said she worked to bring more elements of Taiwanese culture to this year's festival. She said that the e-Pen was also being exhibited as part of an ongoing show at the Evanston Art Center, but she was excited about the opportunity to bring it to a wider audience through the festival. 

“At the Evanston Art Center, we can only promote to the artists,†she said. “We want people who (are) in the community (so) they can all try it.â€

Arianna Unabia Aquino tabled as part of the Sinag Art Collective, a Chicago-based Filipino American arts group. 

Aquino said they saw the festival as a space to celebrate human creativity and hard work, adding that they felt Chicago and Evanston are “some of the last few places†that continue to emphasize local artists over generative artificial intelligence.

“It's exciting to express more of myself and my art through the way I set up my booth (and) display my prints,†Aquino said. 

Aquino said it was especially important to create new narratives during AAPI month, instead of “spoon-feed(ing)†community members Asian American archetypes. 

They added that this meant trying to capture “every single part of what makes being an Asian American unique,†instead of just focusing on art directly centered on more stereotypical elements of identity.

“I feel as though we've had a lot of Asian American representation where we're kind of pandering to non-Asian artists by trying to explain ourselves,†Aquino said. “But since we're more visible as time goes on, it's nice to branch out and not necessarily talk about our culture specifically.â€

Guest speakers — including several Northwestern students and Yen-Feng Lei, director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Chicago — addressed the crowd throughout the afternoon.

Cook County Commissioner Josina Morita and Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss, who also spoke at the festival, reflected on the event's significance to the community.

Morita said that this year's festival celebrated “the role of Asian Americans in the courts and the fight for birthright citizenship,†pointing to key legislative figures and events throughout history, from United States v. Wong Kim Ark's landmark case establishing birthright citizenship to the American Civil Liberties Union's National Legal Director Cecillia Wang.

Across Illinois, she highlighted that Asian Americans have been elected at the municipal, county and state levels.

“There is a saying that you are either at the table or on the menu, and for so long Asian Americans have been on the menu here in Illinois, but 10 years ago we helped found an Asian American caucus that has grown,†Morita said.

While Biss emphasized the importance of the arts, he also stressed their vulnerability, especially at a time when “the value of diversity is under attack.â€

“What we are doing today at the Umbrella Festival is about lifting up the best of our community, the best of our country, and shining the light on what America is supposed to be,†Biss said. “By celebrating the fact that this town is what it is, and we enjoy it for what it is, because of immigrants, because of diversity.â€

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