I volunteered here this year and thought the event was worthwhile and the weather was warm and sunny. I didn't know there was a Phoenix Chinese Week until recently. This usually happens annually right around Lunar New Year. I think a lot of the reviews here aren't entirely fair because if you're expecting something like you would see in large cities like NYC or elsewhere, you're going to be disappointed. Phoenix has a much smaller population of people of Chinese ancestry here so that's reflected in the event. But, with that said, I thought it was well done with lots of booths to learn about Chinese culture, buy all kinds of Chinese themed gifts and trinkets and dragon and lion dance constantly happening. There is even a beer garden here if you wanted to just sit and hang out for awhile. Overall, a nice way to spend my Sunday morning volunteering and also learning a thing or two about my own culture! My only forewarning for you is that parking gets mobbed after 10am so come prepared expecting that. I came early for my shift and was able to find parking. Give it a chance, if you choose to come! read more

The best thing about this whole festival is that it's free. A majority of festivals like this cost money but year after year, Phoenix Chinese Week continues to be free and packed full of tons of performances and vendors. What I liked about the year that I went is that one of the parking structures was free for the entire event. The area around here only really has paid parking so this was quite a boon. I was quite surprised at how big and fanciful it was. It is definitely worth going to if you're in the mood for shopping, food, or watching some simple performances. read more

4* for the food 2* for the booths For a Chinese festival there wasn't a lot that was Chinese to it lol. The booths here didn't really represent much of Chinese culture and most of them consisted of some sort of cheapo kids toys or little souvenir trinkets for sale, the kind you might find in the most touristy stores in any Chinatown. I also personally think festivals should keep everything non partisan. I really don't want to see any kind of booth touting any type of political party when all I want to do is have fun outdoors. I was surprised at the lack of Chinese cuisine here. I think I saw only one or two booths that offered legit Chinese food. The rest were more like Asian Fusion, super Americanized Chinese food, some other type of Asian food, or more fair type food. That isn't to say it wasn't delicious though. I really enjoyed some freshly made takoyaki, a superb potato tornado from a sushi burrito booth (So random, right?), and washed everything down with a sweet tangy refreshing prickly pear lemonade. It's probably a pretty fun festival for kiddos as there were various bouncy houses and castles, and since it was dog friendly my pup Tricki had a wonderful time. I wouldn't go out of my way to attend this festival if future years are like this one, but if I was looking for another dog friendly activity I might go here again. read more

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Phoenix Chinese Week has been around for a number of decades and had done well to navigate changes in the community. The food selection was pretty good and the volunteer performers are always good. It's free and some of what is purchased goes back to the nonprofit for helping the community. read more

This was disappointing. I expected maybe half the stuff to actually follow the theme, and was greeted with less. Almost any aspect of Chinese culture was diluted, and this event would lead you to believe it doesn't extend far beyond incredibly cheap trinkets and clothing. A couple of the little markets were cool, but with all the space available there needed to be 3x more for things to be really interested. There were like...10 places tops to buy relevant goods, and I doubt you'd leave with more than a Buddha statue or a faux-jade bracelet. The performances appeared amateur. The food was OK, but I regret getting lukewarm fare from a tent as opposed to something more fresh from one of the trucks. Whoever had overseen this should feel embarrassed, and needs to research real festivals like Aloha or Matsuri before trying again. read more

Bummed! So just thrown together. The food court was small, tight and really cramped. Lines ran into other lines and some lines ran through the few tables they had for seating. Easily could have doubled the area and been somewhat tight. What was up with the booths and vendors. Costco? Girl Scouts? Insurance companies?and others that had nothing to do with ang part of Asia. We sat through the weakest line up of performance acts ever. A few single standouts only because the majority was so terrible. Little to no interaction by anyone person having to to do with the festival or festivities...none. Start from scratch next year, new blood is needed. Imagine the possibilities. I heard a man announce " This is one of the country's best Asian festivals". Really...fire that guy. Last word...no read more

The annual Phoenix Chinese Week festival, housed at Hance Park, is a combination of bouncy houses for the kids, entertainment, food for the adults, endless Chinese merchandise and random business promotions. All the makings for a fun outing. The purist, I suppose, might be bothered by the presence of Indian Fry Bread and the like, but there are enough Chinese food options available. We all enjoyed a combo special from MuShu: entrée, chow mien, egg roll and rice for five bucks. Amazing! The little ones in our group enjoyed the sweet and sour chicken, the bouncy houses, having their names written in Chinese, fans, the koi fish, spinning wheels to win free stuff... In other words, they had a blast. The adults enjoyed pretty much all the same things, plus a free acupuncture session. Interesting. Those in attendance all seemed polite and friendly. Lots of kids. Lots of dogs. Lots of Chinese. Lots of non-Chinese. A nice mix. And not too crowded. Allow a couple of hours. read more

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I love Chinese New Year. I was expecting a huge celebration with lots if dumplings and rice cake, but that's not what I got. The cultural events were also small and not what I'd expect from such a huge celebration. The venders all sold similar materials and not many gave good insight into Chinese culture. It seemed more of a mish mash of stuff and seemed more Americanized than anything else. I mean they had a grilled cheese food truck of all things! The dragon dance was also subpar. The yo-yo man was more exciting. It was a disappointment overall. read more

Phoenix Chinese Week - Festivals Near Me

Fun Mid-Sized Cultural Event Phoenix is fortunate to have a number of these events organized by community groups-- Phoenix Chinese Week, Japan Week, Aloha Festival. It's a great chance to celebrate cultures with family. And eat good food. And our family REALLY loves to eat good food with diverse pallet options. Chinese week has a good number of booths in a park setting downtown. Parking is adequate, with only a small hike required if you arrive during the rush. There are options for the kids, music and demonstrations, Sister Cities participation, and food trucks(!). Very nice people all around, as well. Definitely one we keep on our schedule for each year! read more

A neat little neighborhood event. Primarily for kids as they have a koi pond, face painting, dragon dancing, children's performances, bounce house, people writing your name in Chinese calligraphy, Chinese dress costume photo booth etc. Adults will enjoy the Asian-food trucks and some Asian market shopping, massage and acupuncture tables. Not a bad way to spend your Saturday or Sunday! read more

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In its 2015 location at Hance Park, this became more a "fun if you're in the neighborhood" event than a "mark your calendar" event. The small children showing off their martial arts skills were adorable. There were a small number of booths selling various forms of Chinese-associated things, ranging from swap mart level to serious art, and I bought some stuff because why not? But a cursory search for Year of the Ram items came up dry! How is this possible? On visits to San Francisco's Chinatown and even its barely-still-functioning Japantown mall thingie, you can't miss what year it is. I tracked down a food truck selling actual Chinese food -- this was challenging -- and enjoyed that, and it's pleasant to walk around on a nice day, and hey! now I know there's Chinese hip-hop! read more

Phoenix Chinese Week - Opening lion dance. - Festivals Near Me

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I am from Los Angles and was really looking forward to being able to celebrate my favorite holiday here in Phoenix. This event was a huge disappointment. It looked more like a swap meet than a cultural event. There was limited opportunities for learning anything about the culture, no parade, no traditional New Years food, no pasteries or candies. There were windows/doors for sale, time shares, the Republican Party, SRP and the water company. The lack of "fireworks" filled with confetti for children was another disappointment. A store in the Mekong market place supplied about half the Chinese themed booths. The children's pavilion had crafts that didn't teach about the cultural and were preschool level at best. The people running the children's area packed up about 30 minutes before the scheduled time to end (the children's pavilion didn't even stay open for half the time the festival was occurring. The people in that ran the children's area in L.A. and San Francisco seemed to enjoy teaching the children, these women couldn't wait for them to leave. The food was the same Asian themed food that was at the Ahola festival. There was no traditional food offered. I attended both Friday and Saturday in hopes of seeing improvement but there was none. The attitude observed on Friday was also observed on Saturday. I understand the need to make money but teach people about your cultural and give them an appreciation for why the holiday is celebrated the way it is. There were no lanterns to signify the end of the holiday. It was only about selling trinkets. The photo booth was empty on Friday and had a few backdrops hanging. As with almost every post I was going to take a photo of Alley to go along with the review. Alley was a tad too short for the backdrops but we were trying. A lady came up as I was taking my last shot and was upset I was using he backdrops. I asked why, and she replied I could have ruined them. Puzzled I walked away...how could I ruin a backdrop by using it as a backdrop? They were already outside. Today I went back and the photo booth was up and running with costumes and they charge was $3. The issue wasn't that I let Alley stand near the backdrop even though she was too short for it to be used, it was because I didn't pay. The aloha festival and the Japanese festival were far better. read more

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The new location at the Margaret T. Hance Park in 2014 was not the best location. The annual festival is usually held at the COFCO Chinese Cultural Center and it's unfortunate they were unable to have it there this year. To be perfectly honest it was not very festive. The food booth's alone range from Indian Fry Bread to churro's and I really was ready for authentic Chinese food and there wasn't very much to choose from. The entertainment was boring...I wanted to see dancing dragons, drums and the beautiful dances and we came at the time when there was nothing going on. To me there should be music going on all the time. I will say the Koi fish exhibit was interesting. The event did provide a beautiful free program and included quite a bit of information of the events happening during the week. I just wished the festival itself was a little more festive and more options for authentic Chinese food. I really miss the old venue. read more

Compared to the 2016 festival, this year's Chinese Festival was a disappointment. The performances were subpar. The food trucks were expensive and all seemed to offer the same thing instead of having a wide variety of Chinese dishes and Asian cuisines for sampling. Some of the vendors were just downright rude and high pressure. It also appeared to be a smaller festival this year. Plus, the parking was a mess. Might skip this festival next year...we'll see. read more

Phoenix Chinese Week was an okay experience except for the free acupuncture, That was truly awesome. I felt so good after that. I could have fallen asleep. My daughter and I enjoyed looking at all the knickknack and souvenir shops. There were a couple of booths that taught children how to write calligraphy. I picked up some worksheets for my students. There was a nice man who wrote my daughter's name in calligraphy. We had fun looking at the pretty koi. We watched a couple of dances. We lined up behind a long line and was saddened to eat mediocre and soggy orange chicken and sesame chicken. We were much happier eating at the Satay Hut food truck. We got the chicken satay which came with a lovely peanut sauce and gado gado style salad. We enjoyed people and dog watching and then went home. It wasn't a bad way to spend an afternoon, but it lacked the luster we were used to at Celebrasian put on by the Iowa Asian Alliance. read more

Pretty cool little neighborhood event. Admission is free and there were a good number of vendors to choose from. I sort of echo some of the earlier sentiments that a lot of the vendors (including the food vendors) are not Chinese or Chinese themed strictly speaking. That said, there were lots of arts and crafts booths, a good number of food options to choose from (including 5 different food trucks), and the main stage showcased a variety of Chinese themed dancers in traditional (and some modern) attire. I grabbed a bowl of Yang Chow Fried Rice from Flippin Rice Food Truck (which includes sausage, chicken, eggs, and a veggie mix) for about $8. Also got a bowl of mango ice with coconut and caramel from Snoh Ice Shavery for $4. The event is super laid back and for the most part there weren't long lines for any of the vendors and seating around the main stage was plentiful. Hoping this event continues to grow over time. read more

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