Performance Schedule

Performer Line UP

 VIP Speech

Speeches by Mayor Kincannon, Mr. Masahiko Mitsumoto, Deputy Consul-General, Consulate-General of Japan in Nashville, DENSO Manufacturing Tennessee, Inc President Mr.Nakamizo, Mr.Bob Booker, Visit Knoxville President, Advocacy Director for AARP Tennessee. Mr. Martin Penny , JTEKT Executive Mr.Kevin Monroe and Mr.Toshio Kawashima , Indonesia Consul-General. Hon. Andre Omer Siregar, AISIN Vice President Eric Jeffers, Mr.Yamasaki, Exedy President Mr. Fujioka, Truist bank Mr. David Hancock.

Clayton-Bradley Academy in Maryville School Orchestra – “We are the World”
Ms.Katie Hutchinson will bring School Orchestra to play “We are the World” at stage right after the Parade. Each Country signer will sing together to unite the Community.

Bangladesh Students Association – UTK
The Bangladesh Students Association (BSA) is a student organization at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville with members of Bangladeshi descent performing Bangladeshi folk music and dance.

Kimono Show by ENISHI will show how to make decorations Obi belt from 15feet Obi like Origami.

Shamisen Knoxville
Sing Japanese songs with accompaniment of shamisen, Japanese 3 string instruments, a drum & a guitar.

Matsuriza
A traditional Japanese Drum performance group from Disney World. Matsuriza means “festival” in Japanese. “Taiko” means drum. The principles of Matsuriza are “Shin” (to develop pure spirit), “Gi” (improve skills), “Tai” (keep healthy body) and “Rei” (observe proper decorum). As in many Oriental philosophies, “mind and body” are important for a man’s whole well-being. Matsuriza Japanese Taiko Drummers build focus; develop a habit of caring for each other in teamwork; shape up by building physical strength; and communicate without words but through sounds and minds.

Indonesian Traditinal Dance, Songs and Angklung Performance (First Time)    
The angklung is a musical instrument from the Sundanese people in Indonesia made of a varying number of bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame.A dance group that has performed Kpop choreographies locally for two years.

 Dr. Dan Higgins
The Three Sisters of Chinese Internal Martial Arts: tai chi chuan, xing yi chuan, and ba gua zhang, including the 3 main styles of tai chi: Chen, Yang, and Wu.

Master Russell Sauls
Performing Chinese martial arts.

Manorah Thai Dance USA
The Manorah Medley Mix which will reflect the unique Thai southern music and dance movement. The song also describe the beauty of flowers in Thailand as well as their beautiful geographic of Thailand in general.

Thai Dance of Murfreesboro
Nita is a Authentic Thai Dance High School volunteer. She is looking forward to perform at Knox Asian festival to display Thai SukhoThai dance and music.

SOMAPA THAI DANCE
The Somapa Thai Dance Company, based in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan area, has been actively giving performances, presentations, classes, and workshops since 1999.
Key performers have over 30 years of performance experience, having been trained in Thailand with the most celebrated dance masters including National Artists and others from the prestigious Department of Fine Arts in Bangkok, Thailand. The group has performed extensively in the D.C. Metropolitan area and has been invited to perform in many prestigious locations in the U.S. and outside the U.S.
The Somapa Thai Dance Company’s mission is to preserve and promote Thai culture and arts in the Americas. Through performances and workshops, the Company hopes to encourage understanding and appreciation of the arts between people of different countries, cultures and ethnicities in the communities in which we are invited.
HERITAGE. The Manorah Medley Mix which will reflect the unique Thai southern music and dance movement. The song also describe the beauty of flowers in Thailand as well as their beautiful geographic of Thailand in general.

Ning Ma Red Sorghum, This ethnic dance is adapted from a Nobel Prize winning novel that characterizes lively, optimistic and relentless spirit, even under great sufferings.

EAST TN Taiwanese Association
Classic Songs and Martial Arts.

Persephone Project
Persephone Project, formerly known as Eien Idols, is a seven member idol dance group that covers J-Pop, K-Pop, other East Asian genres of music.

East Tennessee Chinese School Dance Team East Tennessee Chinese School Dance Team was founded in 2010. The Mission of our dance team is, primarily, to enrich diversity within our local community by offering demonstrations of uniquely Chinese traditional dance. East Tennessee Chinese School Dance Team meets every Sunday. The team has featured a variety of folk and classical Chinese dances representing the long Chinese history and diverse culture. ETCSDT dancers showcased elegant classical Chinese dance and colorful folk dances from Han, Dai, Tibetan, Yao, and Yi ethnic groups at East Tennessee Chinese New Year Festival, Asian Festival, and UT international Festival.

East Tennessee Wushu Team
The East Tennessee Wushu Team has been giving exciting, fun local performances of Chinese Martial Arts for the last 17 years under the coaching of Michael Smith. Today, the team will give a series of short routines of fist, broadsword, chains, flag, staffs, long-handled knife, and some sparring with staffs … Please enjoy, and come visit us at the KnoxvilleChineseCulture.org booth to learn more about China!

Magic Eastern Ensemble. YAO LU ENSEMBLE is committed to inheriting and developing traditional Chinese musical
instruments by combining music elements from pop and jazz. Through the culture of music, it
allows more people to understand the traditional arts of the Chinese, hence, it breaks the inherent
impression and cognition of traditional music instruments. The director Yao Lu was interviewed
by WABE “City Lights with Lois Reitzes”.
Guzheng:Yao Lu, Keyboard:Jiayi Tian,  Dancer:Eileen Zhang
Magic Eastern Ensemble.

Natana Manohari School of Perfomring Arts We are Indian Classical Dancers. We live here in Knoxville. We do both Bharatha Natyam and Kuchipudi dance styles from India. I have been living in Tennessee since 2003

Yukiko Adachi  I am a Japanese who has lived in Miami since February last year. She has been working as an ukulele singer in Japan for about 25 years at concerts, events and restaurants.  Hawaiian and Japanese pops and anime songs, my original songs.

Nozomi  Japanese Music Performance.

Atlanta Korean Cultural Center  Korean traditional dance, instrument, performance group. Korean FAN Dance. We specialize in traditional dance and instruments. AKCC was established in 2002 by Hyunsuk Yang. We focus on teaching Korean traditions and culture through traditional dance and instrument performances.

Filipino American ChristianCommunity of East TN (FACCET) 

Japan Outreach Initiative group (Maika & Kana)  Japanese Harp concert with Caligraphy Demo.Maika is playing a piece called “Roku-Dan-no-Shirabe” on the koto. This is a piece that everyone who plays the koto knows and everyone learns. Nanaka wrote the word “Heiwa.” Heiwa means peace in Japanese. We chose this character with the hope that this festival will contribute to peace. Maika and Nanaka are Japan Outreach Initiative Coordinators in Memphis, Tennessee, and Asheville, North Carolina, respectively. We will be conducting workshops on various aspects of Japanese culture at the JOI booth today, so please come visit us at our booth.

Musei no tora (Japanese Samurai Demonstration)  Deeper than martial arts, we preserve six different samurai traditions of classically armed and unarmed combat which still thrives in today’s modern era.

Kendo (Samurai Practice) by Knoxville Kendo Club 

Ramya Kapadia  Knoxville-basedÔ_Bharatanatyam dancer, choreographer, instructor & a Carnatic vocalist (Bharatanatyam :re-cast form of “sadir dance” and music from South India.) She runs the Natyarpana School of Dance & Music in Durham, NC, & is the Associate Artistic & Outreach Director of Maryland-based Prakriti Dance. She received the Emerging Artist & Artist Support Awards & the Choreography Fellowship from the Durham & NC Arts Councils, & the North Carolina Dance Alliance. She is a Teaching Artist with the Durham & United Arts Councils & Arts Access, where she integrates the principles of dance with the STEAM curriculum in schools. 

Bubble Starlings Bubble Starlings is a four member idol group from across East Tennessee and Virginia! We specialize in a blend of kpop, jpop, and even some cpop! We are so excited to have our first live performance with Knoxville Asian Festival! We have been perfecting our set since March of 2022 and can’t wait to share it with you!

Contest Winner Awards 

Pencak Silat – Indonesian Martial Arts

BubbleStarlings is a four member idol group from across East Tennessee and Virginia! We specialize in a blend of kpop, jpop, and even some cpop! We are so excited to have our first live performance with Knoxville Asian Festival! We have been perfecting our set since March of 2022 and can’t wait to share it with you!

Dragon / Lion dance by WAH LUM Kang Fu by Sifu Leroy

Farragut Chinese Dance Elite  Farragut Chinese Dance Elite was founded in 2019. The group commits to intercultural communication and grasp the common values that unite all people with different cultures through the art of Chinese dance. The group has presented community performances throughout the East Tennessee area. Farragut Chinese Dance Elite dancers showcased a culturally Chinese children dance at East Tennessee Chinese New Year Festival in 2020.