Colorful paper lanterns, mesmerizing taiko drums, and scrumptious, egg roll esque lumpia will all be on hand at the Pacific Rim Street Festival in Old Sacramento this Sunday The festival, now in its 20th year, displays the richness and diversity of many Asian and Pacific Rim cultures. There will be music from India, Korea and China, dancers from Bali and Thailand and a wide variety of Asian and Pacific Islander arts and crafts to enjoy. Food vendors will be on hand to tempt you with Hawaiian BBQ, Indian naan and delicious chinese favorites from festival founder Frank Fat’s restaurant. The festival is held throughout Old Sacramento, and every street will offer another way to explore the

Trying a new dish or exotic cuisine for dinner doesn’t have to mean a trip out to a restaurant. In the greater Sacramento area, many grocery stores and small, often family-owned shops offer all the authentic, hard-to-find ingredients needed to make anything from Italian to Japanese to Mediterranean foods for dinner. The Sacramento Press hit the streets to round up some of these ethnic grocery stores here in the city. Sampino’s Towne Foods 1607 F St. 441-2372 Hours: Monday through Friday 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Saturday 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Sampino’s Towne Foods carries the essential items needed to make an authentic Italian dinner at home as well as foods made from family recipes accumulated t

Now is it Filipino with an F or a P? It must be an F because as most Fil-Ams would agree, it’s not Filipino without food and family. In Sacramento, hip hop artists, break dancers, designers, and other creatives came together at Sol Collective on 21st Street and Broadway to celebrate Filipino American History Month. They came from as far as Vallejo, Stockton, and South San Francisco to share what it means to be Fil-Am. The heat resonates from the thin sachets of lumpia simmering in the boiling bubbles of Crisco oil. Dominique Marquez, 26 with her long silky hair, tank top, tribal ink tattoo, and shorts helps her mom "Nanay" with her brow covered in sweat over the open fire of the gas gri

Entering the gritty, red-floored and practically bare-walled and windowless gym, students face grueling lessons in Philippine and Chinese martial arts and weapon-handling. By the end of the night, they are left with new bruises, sore shoulders, blistered hands and legs almost too weak to walk to the car. Typhoon Philippine School of Martial Arts reopened at its new location on 47th Avenue in June after six months of moving and preparing for the addition of a martial arts supply store. Guro (Tagalog for “teacher”) Maurice Gatdula – owner and teacher of the school and the man behind the new Iron Warrior Martial Arts Supply – proudly maintains a traditional, “old-school” and oftentimes inti

Get ready to dance, eat and learn at the Filipino Fiesta of Sacramento's (FFS) 35th annual celebration Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Jose Rizal Community Center. About 5,000 people are expected to attend the celebration marking 112 years of the Philippines' independence from Spanish rule. "We celebrate the fiesta to show our uniqueness, educate about our traditions and share our heritage," Cora Emery, FFS chairman of marketing, wrote in an e-mail. "The fiesta is one way to connect our communities so other cultures learn our contributions to this multigenerational society." Six Filipino-American organizations put on the fiesta: Filipino Community of Sacramento & Vicinity; Filipino

I can honestly say that I am proud to be a Sacramentan. Even more so since I began working on the events calendar for Sacramento at the Sacramento Convention & Visitors Bureau! I have pretty much lived in the Sacramento area my whole life and never before did I realize that there are so many things going on- all the time! This weekend is packed full of Festivals, fundraisers, music & theatre and hopefully by reading this you are prompted to get out and have some fun! And please do note that there are many more things happening that I may not have mentioned...in order to keep these articles concise, I narrow them down to a few events. Feel free to add events in the Comment section at the bo