11th Annual Knox Asian Festival
Sep 7th 2024, 6PM – 9PM(Sponsors & Friend of Festival Member)
Sep 8th 2024, 10:30 AM – 6:00 PM (Public)
Knoxville Asian Festival @ World’s Fair Park
Prepare to experience authentic foods, exciting performances, and traditional activities that represent the Asian cultures of
Japan, Indonesia, China, The Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, Nepal & Myanmar.
In order to organize the festival safely, we would like to know who is planning to come! Please register before you join us.
Thank you so much.
Applications
Be a part of the 11th Annual Knox Asian Festival!
2024 Poster Contest
Do you love all things about design and Asian Culture? Don’t miss your chance to submit original artwork for this year’s Poster Contest! Click the button below to find out important information & dates regarding the contest.
Entries Open: March 1, 2024 | Entries Close: April 15, 2024
Public Voting Begins: April 16, 2024 | Public Voting Ends: April 25, 2024
The winner will be announced on May 1, 2024, in Celebration of Asian Pacific Islanders Month!
What’s Happening in 2024:
The Asian Cultural Parade will start at 10:30 AM at the Water Fountain on the Festival Lawn and end at the Amphitheater stage. During the festival, booths for each country will have Food Vendors, Activities, & Performances. We will also have ongoing performances in the Amphitheater and 2 other stages.
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New Events in 2024
Meet Ninjya at the Knox Asian Festival.
Since the Nara period, the Iga district had supplied lumber to jisha (寺社, temple-shrines). But in the Kamakura period, jisha declined in influence while shugo (governors) and jitō (manor administrators) grew dominant. The power of these functionaries then waned in Iga while that of bushi (warriors) rose instead. Iga was divided into local jizamurai regions locked in guerrilla war for which Iga warriors developed specialized skills and tactics.
During the early Muromachi period, the people of Iga became independent of their feudal overlords and established a kind of republic—Iga Sokoku Ikki(伊賀惣国一揆) in Japanese. Iga-mono 伊賀者 (Iga men) first appear in historical records in 1487 when the Shōgun Ashikaga Yoshihisa attacked Rokkaku Takayori, the daimyō of southern Ōmi Province from the Rokkaku clan. Both Iga and the Koga ninja fought on the side of Rokkaku, helping to successfully repel the shōgun’s attack. In 1579, warlord Oda Nobunaga‘s son Oda Nobukatsu launched an unsuccessful attack against the Iga Republic. In 1581, Oda Nobunaga himself attacked Iga from six directions with a force of 40,000 to 60,000 men, about a ten to one advantage, and slaughtered many Iga ninja and their families. The Iga held only two castles when Nobunaga declared a ceasefire and allowed some of the ninja to escape.
In 1582, during the turmoil following Oda Nobunaga’s death, Hattori Hanzō advised Tokugawa Ieyasu to escape to Mikawa through the Kōga and Iga regions. Ieyasu, when he became the shōgun, employed ninja to guard Edo Castle—the headquarters of the Tokugawa shogunate—and to supply intelligence. He settled 200 men from the Iga-ryū in the Yotsuya neighborhood of Edo (Tokyo). Hanzo’s Gate in Edo Castle took its name from the nearby residence of the Hattori clan.
Hattori Hanzō’s son Hattori Masanari commanded the castle’s Iga guards but proved a less successful leader than his father. In 1606, the Iga men rebelled due to harsh treatment. They continued to serve the shogunate as a musketeer unit and as dōshin, low ranking samurai policemen, with their ninja skills gradually fading out in later generations. One of the last known recorded ninja missions performed by an Iga ninja was in the late Bakumatsuperiod of the 19th century, when an Iga ninja by the name of Sawamura Yasusuke (沢村 甚三郎 保祐) infiltrated one of the black ships of Commodore Matthew C. Perry.
Asian World & Passport Program
The Asian Festival also includes a strong educational component. We recently implemented “Asian World,” where visitors travel through various booths that are named after Asian cultural interactive activities and feature traditional foods and art for each one.
Children and adults will receive a stamp on their festival passports for each cultural booth visited. Everyone is encouraged to visit all cultural booths to learn about the diversity of cultural traditions! This project is being supported, in whole or in part, by federal award number SLFRP5534 awarded to the State of Tennessee by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Performances
- Angklung Music (Indonesia)
- Martial Art Demonstrations
- Traditional Dancers
- Thailand Dancers from Washington DC
- K-Pop & J-Pop Performances
- Kimono Show
- Bonsai Exhibition
- Japanese Tea Ceremony
- Taiko Drum from Disney World
- And More!
Passport Program
One of the most important components of the Knoxville Asian Festival is EDUCATION! Across both lawns, you’ll find booths representing different countries featuring traditional foods, activities, performances, & more. By joining in on the Passport Program, you can receive a stamp at each booth, and may even win a free t-shirt! (See Details) This project was supported, in whole or in part, by federal award number SLFRP5534 awarded to the State of Tennessee by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
What will you discover at the festival this year?
Matsuriza Performance
Japanese Traditional Taiko Drums
Kind Words:
Our History
The Asian Culture Center of TN (ACCTN) was founded in 2014 with the aim of promoting culture, diversity, and unity in the community. There is so much that a community benefits from every time there is a cultural event organized. People not only develop an open mind about other people and their cultures, but the host community also becomes a center of interest for individuals and organizations looking to boost the economic capacity of that particular community. Therefore, as a highly focused organization interested in developing cultural diversity and understanding in our Tennessee community, we have strongly focused on popularizing the Asian culture, which has grown popular in the area.
Mission Statement
Our mission is to create a welcoming community by sharing our Asian Arts and Cultures. The Festival strives to bring together people from various cultural backgrounds, to promote peace, harmony, unity and a healthy lifestyle. We are promoting a diverse and harmonious society that prepares today’s children to take the stage as true global citizens.
This project was supported in part by federal award number 21.027 awarded to Knox County by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Arts & Culture Alliance.
FESTIVAL GUIDELINES
Prohibited Items & Rules
- No motorized vehicles or scooters (unless necessary for persons with disabilities)
- No picnic supplies or coolers
- No outside food/beverage or alcohol
- No skateboards, bicycles, skates, skate shoes
- No tents, canopies
- No firearms, laser pointing devices or weapons of any kind
- No remote-controlled vehicles or aircrafts, including drones
- No stickers
- No soliciting
- No unauthorized vendors will be allowed
- No Pets are allowed
All attendees and their bags/belongings are subject to search and prohibited items will be removed at the discretion of security staff. At the gate, We might ask BAG CHECK.
We suggest you do not bring a big bag or backpack.
Knox Asian Festival is an outdoor venue and we use a weather data team to monitor weather conditions hourly on event days. Weather & event updates will also be posted on Facebook and pages and MC will make the announcement on stage in the case of extreme weather. All events are rain or shine. We offer no refunds or exchanges in the event of rain. Raincoats and ponchos are allowed. In the event of severe weather conditions (thunder/lightning, etc.)during events announcements will be made from the stage concerning the status of the event due to weather conditions. Information will be posted on Facebook. We ask all patrons to remain calm and listen to these announcements.
Guests visiting the Knox Asian Festival agree to assume all responsibility for their health and well-being and not hold Knox Asian Festival and its agents, employees, representatives, partners, sponsors, executors, and all others acting on its behalf responsible in any way with respect to COVID-19. If you are exhibiting any COVID-19 symptoms, please do not enter Knox Asian Festival. Common symptoms of the COVID-19 virus may include the following: High Fever, Headaches, Loss of Energy/Fatigue, Cough, Sore Throat, Runny Nose or Stuffy Nose, Body Aches, Diarrhea and/or Vomiting. Those visitors that exhibit any of these symptoms will not be allowed access into Knox Asian Festival.
NOTICE OF FILMING AND PHOTOGRAPHY
When you enter Asian Culture Center of TN event or program, you enter an area where photography, audio, and video recording may occur.
By entering the event premises, you consent to interview(s), photography, audio recording, video recording and its/their release, publication, exhibition, or reproduction to be used for news, web casts, promotional purposes, telecasts, advertising, inclusion on websites, social media, or any other purpose by Asian Culture Center of TN and its affiliates and representatives. Images, photos and/or videos may be used to promote similar Asian Culture Center of TN events in the future, highlight the event and exhibit the capabilities of Asian Culture Centre of TN. You release Asian Culture Center of TN, its officers and employees, and each and all persons involved from any liability connected with the taking, recording, digitizing, or publication and use of interviews, photographs, computer images, video and/or or sound recordings.
By entering the event premises, you waive all rights you may have to any claims for payment or royalties in connection with any use, exhibition, streaming, web casting, televising, or other publication of these materials, regardless of the purpose or sponsoring of such use, exhibiting, broadcasting, web casting, or other publication irrespective of whether a fee for admission or sponsorship is charged. You also waive any right to inspect or approve any photo, video, or audio recording taken by Asian Culture Center of TN or the person or entity designated to do so by Asian Culture Center of TN.