Tulsa’s growing Asian community is the centerpiece of a free weekend festival celebrating some of the city’s most diverse cultures.
Tulsa Asia Fest takes over the Arvest Convention Center Saturday, with representation from dozens of Asian nations.
Parisa Pilehvar, vice chair of the city’s Asian Affairs Commission, says the number of Asian people living in Tulsa grew 57.3% over the last decade, with a 182% boom in Pacific Islanders.
“But we’ve been here for a long time, and the stories that we’re collecting are giving some really beautiful examples of that,” she said.
Earlier this month, the commission set out to collect unique stories from across the community, where members can trace their roots across the continent — from Iran and Afghanistan to India, China, the Philippines and beyond.
That’s why the city commission, now in its third year, is broadening representation to include Middle Eastern countries, focusing on 35 altogether.
These stories will be on display at the festival, which will also feature Hmong dances, Mongolian singing, K-pop covers, diverse foods, did-you-know facts and more. Attendees should come curious, says Sofia Noshay, a commissioner who is also the lead organizer of Tulsa Asia Fest.
“All of us are just a conglomeration of a bunch of different identities, right?” Noshay said. “What it means to be both Asian and Tulsan has changed over the years. It’s a lot of: ‘Yes, I’m Asian. But yes, I’m also American, and I was born here.’”
She says the community has also grappled with broader, ongoing racial healing around Tulsa — resulting in the creation of the commission.
“I think building community and us all seeing that we’re all really pretty similar and have very many hats that all of us wear, I think that (Tulsa Asia Fest) is a celebration of that,” she said.
Organizers noted their event is not the only place to find diverse representation in the city. Asian grocery stores and restaurants are thriving, and the Philbrook Museum of Art has put on several exhibits documenting Asian history.
Pilehvar, who’s lived here for the past 11 years, said Asian culture wasn’t always this present in Tulsa. And Noshay says her move here from Florida 10 years ago was a “cultural shock.”
Growing up in Tulsa wasn’t easy for Mai VuLe, either. She’s a volunteer handling the festival’s stage and design.
VuLe didn’t see people who looked like her at school and felt disconnected from her culture until she got involved at St. Joseph Vietnamese Catholic Church on the eastside.
“I didn’t have much knowledge of any other culture, Asian culture, outside of my own,” VuLe said. “And to see it go from that to something as big as this? I feel like Tulsa has diversified immensely.”
More than 2,500 Tulsans attended the commission’s Lunar New Year festival last year. They wanted to go bigger and be more representative this year. So Tulsa Asia Fest emerged last summer.
Now more than 60 different community partners are involved. Noshay says it’ll be a celebration welcome to all Tulsans. However, she wants Asian Tulsans to brag on themselves in a way they haven’t always had the chance to do.
VuLe sees the event’s value for young people coming of age in the city — just like she once was.
“I definitely wanted to make not just like the little kid in me but also other kids feel proud of who they are,” VuLe said.
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