Highlights
Photos | Sun shines on Food Fest in Piedmont Park
Piedmont’s free, multi-cultural Food Fest returned to Piedmont Park on April 19 with an array of 60 local food and beverage vendors, artists, retailers, and community groups. In four years, the volunteer-run Food Fest has quickly turned into a favorite spring event for the community, drawing families from town and neighboring communities.
Event organizer Roger Tsai said roughly 2,000 people attended the event this year. “Thank you to our amazing community, volunteers, and sponsors for supporting our Food Fest vendors, performers, and community partners,” he said. “It was wonderful to celebrate the vibrant diversity we’re so fortunate to have here in the Bay Area!”
Piedmont Food Fest returns this Saturday, April 19
Our city’s fourth annual multicultural festival is almost here! Attendees can still buy pre-sales KidZone passes and all-day beer/wine tastings through the website as well as volunteer through signupgenius.
The event is free to attend and features 60 local food & beverage vendors, artists, retailers, and community partners:
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Food trucks & vendors, including Maine Lobster, Momolicious (Nepalese), La Pituca (Peruvian), Hearth Wood-Fired Pizza, Lola’s Spanish Cuisine, Aburaya Japanese Fried Chicken, Crazy Empanadas, Swahili Spot (Tanzanian), 3 Brothers Kitchen, Bonito Poke, Sunrise Deli,, Curry Up Now, Lizetta’s Southern SoulFood and BBQ, Pintoh Thai, Smoothielicious, and Gourmanade
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KidZone Carnival, including 12 midway games, sno-cone station, Prescott Circus Show, and a free cultural crafts table
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Breweries, wineries, and ciderhouses, including Alameda Brewing, Altamont Beerworks, Del Cielo Brewery, Line 51 Brewing Company, Headyworks Brewing, Hella Coastal, Headlands, and Oakland United Beerworks, wine from Deer Hill Vineyards, P. Harrell Winery, and Maker Wine, and hard cider from Mount Diablo Cider Company and Blindwood Cider
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Community Stations, including Oakland Roots, Oakland Promise, three Piedmont High School student tables for Alameda County Food Bank, Art for Advocacy, and a Kitchen Swap (bring some kitchen wares & take some home!), and the City of Piedmont Planning Dept & Piedmont Fire
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Local businesses: Alameda Pediatric Dentistry & Orthodontics, KSS Spanish Immersion Preschools, EAG Painting & Decoration, HDR Remodeling, Park Boulevard Kumon, Immedium Books, Porschia’s henna tattoos, and Farmor’s Danish Salad Dressing
Third annual Piedmont Food Fest brings multi-cultural food, fun, and live entertainment to Piedmont Park
Thousands will gather in Piedmont Park on Saturday for Piedmont Food Fest – a free day of food, fun, and performances showcasing the wealth of diverse cultures that call the Bay Area home.
Now in its third year, Food Fest was conceived by Piedmont resident Roger Tsai during the COVID-19 pandemic as a way to build community and celebrate the multicultural cuisine, art, and artists of the region. A small group of volunteer organizers brought the vision to life, supported by over 100 community volunteers on the day of the event. The inaugural Food Fest drew over 1,000 attendees, growing to 1,500 in year 2. Over 2,000 people are expected to join for 2024.
20 vendors across three food zones will offer a globe-spanning menu, featuring longstanding Bay Area favorites like Curry Up Now, The Chairman, and momolicious as well as newer entrants to the scene and local favorites such as Doc Bones BBQ and Piedmont’s own Robert Dorsey Catering. In the Sweet Zone, sugar lovers will find treats ranging from handmade gelato and southern-style banana bread pudding to Japanese crepes and Taiwanese mooncakes. The Beer & Wine zone offers beer, wine, and cider from 10 Bay Area producers.
Live performances throughout the day highlight globe-spanning arts and entertainment, ranging from North Indian folk opera to aerial arts to Tahitian dance. The stage line-up is headlined by San Francisco-based Amor do Samba, scheduled to begin at 3:15pm.
A KidZone will feature a carnival midway, sno-cone station, and cultural crafts station where young attendees can build their own butterfly with multi-colored rice.
At the annual Piedmont Food Fest, giving lip service to diversity, equity and inclusion isn’t a half-hearted gesture but a full compliment; an expression of curiosity and sincere appreciation; and a solid commitment to new experiences.
Entering its third year on April 20, the free community event goes well beyond savory and sweet taste satisfaction to include treats for the eyes and ears with an eclectic list of Bay Area performing artists, a “KidZone” and an expanded sense of community achieved by reaching out to multicultural vendors, nonprofits and other organizations across the Bay Area to establish partnerships.
“The mission we put in place from the beginning was to celebrate the multicultural cuisine, art and artists of the broader Bay Area,” lead organizer Roger Tsai said in a recent interview. “Success is determined by how many local businesses we showcase, how many different cultures we bring on stage.
“It’s all predicated on having a multifaceted event. Celebrating our differences is what the festival is about.”
Piedmont Food Fest 3 comes together under the auspices of a core group of volunteers who form the planning team and include Tsai, along with Diana Lee (Piedmont Racial Equity Campaign), Kala Hale (former Event Planning, Mills College), Judy Jang Jan (Rob Skate Academy Board), Robert Dorsey (Robert Dorsey Catering) and a list of advisors.
Considerable contributions to the efforts involved in organizing the five-hour festival from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Piedmont Park (piedmontfoodfest.org) come from many of the food, beverage and retail vendors; performers, community partners and sponsors; and individuals who provide marketing, design and website support.
“There’s the core of about 20, and on the actual day, we’ve grown from about 50 extra volunteers the first year to about 80 this year,” Tsai said. “So there are over 100 volunteers on the 20th (of April) making it happen.
“It’s exciting to see volunteers from Piedmont but also people coming out from all over the bay. That’s kind of the goal. It’s hosted by Piedmont, but the point is bringing together the collective community found throughout the region.”
Performers scheduled on Piedmont Park’s center stage reflect a spectrum of achievement, from accomplished midcareer artists to rising youth talent.
This year’s roster features Oakland Taiko; Great Wall Youth Orchestra; Beloved Little Circus; O Hina’aro Nui Tahitian dance and music school performers; Amor do Samba; No Immigrants No Spice; the Devendra Sharma Folk Opera Ensemble; and two young artists presented in Oakland-based Hiiiwav Black Artist Incubator’s showcase — jazz musician Ayo Brame and singer-songwriter August Lee Stevens.
“Hiiwav was started by Grammy Award-winning artist and innovator Bosko Kante,” Tsai said. “Hiiiwav is an incubator that helps local Black musicians build sustainable careers in music by providing recording space and helping them learn the business and make connections (hiiiwav.org).
“They’ve been a Food Fest partner since the beginning, and we’ve featured five artists from their incubator over the past two years and have these two amazing artists this year. I love how he’s (Kante’s) built a platform to support local artists.”
Another lovable item Tsai chooses to highlight comes from Swahili Spot (swahilispot.com), a food vendor that in the first year was so popular that owner Priscilla Mkenda had to send her sister to the store to pick up more supplies during the event.
“It’s Tanzanian food, and our attendees just embraced them, which is why they almost sold out,” he said. “They found enough value to come back three times. I love that people know they can come to Food Fest to try something new and have their interests piqued.
“What did I eat? I had their Bongo Beef Rice Bowl that had beef spiced differently, and it was hearty, with flavorful vegetables and rice. It reminded me of my time in Tanzania climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.”
Tea on Piedmont, a small business owned by Piedmont resident Grace Shen, will offer boba tea and and other varieties aimed at fostering what Shen says is her mission to introduce people to the complete culture and appreciation of tea. Oakland Bloom, another scheduled food and drink provider, is an Oakland nonprofit that helps refugees build food businesses and is led by James Beard Leadership Award winner Diana Wu.
“Many of our vendors and sponsors took a chance on us three years ago and have returned,” Tsai said. “Some have increased their support. They believe in the mission, not just dollars and cents. They believe in supporting the community.”
Tsai said the city of Piedmont and 50 founding families who provided the seed money to launch the festival have played similar, significant roles.
“Within two weeks we had strong backing from those families that allowed us to do this. The city was supportive of this new experience run by residents and individuals. They (Piedmont city officials and staff) helped promote it and allowed it to happen.”
Extending beyond the two examples, Tsai says the festival’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion will continue in part because of connections to various Piedmont school district groups and local nonprofits such as the Piedmont Anti-Racism and Diversity Committee and the Piedmont Racial Equity Campaign.
“They’re longstanding groups focused on multicultural experiences and diversity,” he said. “They help advise on our cuisine curation, programming and other aspects.
“We set a strong baseline and look for blind spots, and by being intertwined with local groups and listening to community members, we make sure everyone’s invited to the table. Families and individuals come with excitement and enthusiasm for trying new things and appreciating different perspectives brought together.”
Though Piedmont Food Fest is admission-free, Tsai noted two ticketed categories: the $25 “KidZone” access pass that includes unlimited games and crafts; one Sno-Cone; and a few a la carte drink options; and a premium beverage package that ranges from $10 to $50.
He said the Food Fest raised more than $100,000 in its first two years for small businesses and drew 1,500 people. This year, expecting to build on the numbers in 2023 and with interest remaining high, Tsai predicted more than 2,000 attendees and says Swahili Spot will come fully supplied — and well-prepared to dash to a grocery store should that be necessary.
Lou Fancher is a freelance writer.
