Sacramento’s AAPI Night Market brings culture and community to the Capitol

AAPI Heritage Month first began as a weeklong recognition in 1978, but the observance was expanded to a month in 1990, according to AsianPacificHeritage.gov.

The fourth annual AAPI Night Market took over Capitol Mall on a scorching Friday. Despite the Sacramento heat, people gathered to enjoy food, performances and shopping from over 50 vendors, all while celebrating the rich diversity of Sacramento’s AAPI community.

Organized by the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce, the event featured live music from Soosh, DJ Lex and performing artists Aaron Le and Thuy, while featuring a variety of food, drinks and entertainment.

Initially a small gathering, the event has blossomed into a major community event, drawing visitors from across the region, according to Lauren Akabori, media and content specialist for the Sacramento Asian Pacific Chamber of Commerce.

“What once started as a smaller event is now bigger, to where we’re not only exposing our Chamber members who are small-business owners and AAPI-owned specifically, but we’re growing it to people who are coming from different cities outside of Sacramento,” Akabori said.

Sacramento’s community is one of the most diverse in the nation, and the night market reflects that. Sacramento County is home to an AAPI population of 340,720, or 21.5% of the county’s population, according to U.S. Census Data.

“Sacramento has always been one of the most Asian-populated cities,” Akabori said. “It’s not just one culture, not just Japanese or Chinese, but you’re seeing a little bit of everything — whether it’s Hmong, Korean, Filipino, you’re seeing all different cultures.”

May is also National Small Business Month, making the AAPI Night Market a great opportunity to spotlight local businesses.

“We’re celebrating it by bringing all of these businesses together, giving them the opportunity to expose themselves,” Akabori said. “We’re giving them a place where they can set up and share all of their products, whether it’s food or crafts.”

One of those businesses is My Lumpia Lady, a Filipino-Mexican fusion food truck owned by Kathleen Rapisura-Pardo, who started her business during the pandemic.

“COVID hit, and everything shut down,” Rapisura-Pardo said. “I started selling plates, and then I started selling out week after week. I told my husband, ‘I don’t want to work for anybody anymore.’”

Rapisura-Pardo has been selling her unique food, like her signature birria lumpia, at the Night Market since it began and loves the sense of community the event brings.

“The crowd is great. It’s just something really fun,” she said. “I know a lot of other food vendors, we vend at a lot of different places together, so it’s nice to be with them as well. It’s a great event, great location, great people come out.”

For many vendors, the night market is not just a business opportunity but a way to share their heritage. Mary-Anne Sarao, owner of Arawan Matcha, infuses her Filipino roots into her drinks.

“I try to put hints of my culture just through the menu items or the names or the ingredients,” Sarao said. “I have the Manila Sun, which is a mango, oat-milk matcha. I just kind of put those little twists in it to include my culture.”

Sarao was not a fan of matcha the first time she tried it, but said when she had her first cup of “good matcha,” she wanted to share it, while adding her own creativity to the beverage.

“I always wanted to stay creative. And then after having my family, it became a little harder to kind of figure out what creative things I could do,” Sarao said. “And then I’ve always wanted to give back to the community.”

Sarao, a longtime Sacramento resident, appreciates how the city embraces its diverse community. “It’s really amazing to see us getting recognized, not only just in food, but with diversity,” Sarao said. “I’m just happy to be part of it.”

In addition to food, Karen Chen, the artist behind Sunshine Studios, brought her creative vision to the market. Chen sells adult coloring books with the hope of creating an accessible way for people to tap into their inner artistry.

“I really want to encourage others to do art, and I believe that art is for everybody, and it should be accessible to everyone,” Chen said.

In addition to creating coloring books, Chen paints murals and painted a large mural in Taiwan last year, the country where her family is from. She designed a mural featuring a koi fish transforming into cherry blossoms, with the outline of Taiwan subtly incorporated into the dorsal fin.

“I’m still shocked that I did it myself,” Chen said. “It felt like I got to give a gift to Taiwan and kind of give back to my heritage.”

Sacramento residents can find one of Chen’s murals on the backside of the iconic Sacramento fixture, Marie’s Donuts.

Attendees of the night market echoed the sentiment that the event was a celebration of unity.

“I like how everyone comes together for this,” said Holly Xiong, an attendee and Sacramento resident. “Without the event, you just know about your own people. But here, you see so many different Asians. It’s such a diverse community.”

Pair Yang, another Sacramento attendee, agreed. “Sacramento is the capital, so this should be the spot where everybody gets together. Sacramento is so diverse,” Yang said.

With food, art and performances bringing people together, the AAPI Night Market showed how Sacramento is a cultural capital and not just a state one.

“There aren’t a lot of events in Sacramento like this,” said Cameron Tran, a Sacramento resident. “They should bring out more and celebrate more cultures.”