OCEANSIDE, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI) — With Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month just days away, hundreds of people gathered in North County to kick off celebrations early at the SoCal API Festival.
The annual festival, held at the Oceanside Civic Center Plaza, featured a variety of performers celebrating Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander cultures.
“It’s pretty cool. I love it,” said Oceanside resident Amy Ashton. “Oceanside is getting better and better about that, so we’ve got a great community here.”
The festival began in 2023, and organizers say it has continued to grow each year.
“We have a really diverse community,” said Project Director Tuyen Nguyen. “We all should be really coming together and really learning and engaging with each other’s cultures.”
Nguyen said the event was created to honor the history and unique qualities of different cultures, while also giving individuals the space to define their own identities.
“Really honoring our history and where we came from, we are also creating space for folks to define themselves and identify themselves,” Nguyen said. “For folks like me, who are 1.5-generation, it takes a little bit of a journey to figure out where we all fit — balancing culture and paving our own path.”
Along with cultural performances, the festival also offered a wide selection of food, featuring everything from Filipino to Chinese cuisine.
For vendors, the event is more than just a business opportunity — it’s a chance to share their heritage.
“My family is originally from Guam. I grew up on the island of Hawaii, though, so that’s where our business started,” said Natalie Santos, owner of Local Sweets. “That’s where we started bringing the li hing mui sweets to the mainland.”
Local Sweets features a variety of island-inspired candies, all dusted in li hing mui powder, a plum seed powder popular in Hawaiian cuisine.
“We’re a melting pot,” Santos said. “I think it just broadens everybody’s palates. Islanders don’t really have too big of a footprint out here, so this helps us do that.”
Organizers say the ultimate goal of the SoCal API Festival is to provide a taste of the diverse cultures that enrich the community.
“It is the fabric of our community,” Nguyen said. “It’s what makes being in San Diego so amazing — that we get to combine all of that together and exchange it.”
Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is celebrated in May.
