“The Third Annual Asia Pacific New Year Celebration will be held at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall on Saturday, Feb 10.The Asia Pacific Cultural Center, a non-profit cultural arts organization, is celebrating the Third Annual Asia Pacific New Year on Saturday, Feb. 10, at the Tacoma Dome Exhibition Hall. There will be 14 different Asia and Pacific Islander performances, 10 ethnic cuisine food booths, and dozens of information and retail booths will be made available to the public. Admission is free and the events will take place from 11 a.m to 5 p.m. This is the original family festival event for those of the Asia Pacific community to share their customs and traditions with others. The evening affair will be held at the same location from 7 p.m. to 1 a.m. that evening. Asia and Pacific Islander bands will perform traditional cultural music along with popular American music for a unique multi-cultural, multi-lingual, multi-generational event. Bands Blackstone (Vietnamese American), Filimaua (American Samoa), and Signals, featuring Filipino recording artist Sonia Ainsworth (Filipino American), will be performing on stage. Admission for the evening performances is a $10 donation. Tickets will be available at the door and day of the event, and tickets for a dance to take place in the evening will also be available. A ceremony traditional among Samoa High Chiefs to welcome esteemed visitors to their village, called the Samoa Kava drinking ceremony, will open the Asia Pacific New Year Celebration. Scheduled on the program are performances from the communities of Lao, Vietnam, Japan, China, Thai, Hawaii, Korea, Tahiti, Philippines, Cambodia, New Zealand, Tokelau and India.Everyone is invited to attend the events and share and learn from those in the Asia Pacific communities in the area. Ethnic cuisines will be available from area restaurants.Project partners of this community event include the City of Tacoma, Tacoma Dome, Washington Arts Commission, Florence Kilworth Foundation, Forest Foundation, Muckleshoot Charity Found, Korean American Professional Society, Korean Women’s Association, Pierce Community College, State Farm Insurance Companies, Columbia Bank and others pending.The mission of the Asia Pacific Cultural is to serve as a crossroads between local and international communities by providing opportunities for education, international trade relations, cultural and business experiences, in opportunities for dialogue that are essential to understanding traditional and contemporary Asia Pacific Cultures.The Asia Pacific Cultural Center is a volunteer driven 501 c3 non profit organization. “