April 9, 1996

Toronto, ON -- The Asian Heritage Month Group invites you to attend The Third Annual Asian Heritage Month Festival, a month long celebration of the diversity of Asian Canadian cultures at various local venues. The festival begins with a full weekend of events at Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queen's Quay W, (416) 973-4000.

An estimated 3,500 people will attend the kick-off to Canada's largest festival of Asian Canadian art at Harbourfront Centre from Thursday, May 2, 1996 to Sunday, May 5, 1996. The Third Annual Asian Heritage Month Festival will spotlight music, dance, art exhibits, storytelling, readings, film and video, workshops, panels and multidisciplinary events featuring a wide range of artists. Scheduled artists include filmmakers Helen Lee, Richard Fung and Paul Wong; dancers Mariko Tanabe and Rina Singha; musicians George Gao and Chiyoko Szlavnics; writers Denise Chong, Wayson Choy, and Roy Miki; visual artists Sarinder Dhaliwal and Louise Noguchi; and many more.

Since inception The Asian Heritage Month Group, has successfully presented events to break stereotypical perceptions of Asian Canadians. The Asian Heritage Month Festival is an exciting collaborative venture that has resulted in a wider variety of venues for Asian Canadian artists' work in mainstream and community spaces.

The Asian Heritage Month Festival is affordable with free admission to many events. In particular from May 4 to May 5, special Asian Heritage Month Festival family programming take place at Harbourfront including storytelling, food from various Asian Canadian cultures, arts and craft demonstration, and children's workshops. Ticketed shows range from $5 - $15 in advance. Tickets and festival passes for the Harbourfront events (Members and Seniors - $30; Non-members - $40) are available at the Harbourfront box office, (416) 973-4000. For tickets to the other festival events, call the festival office, (416) 598-7993.

For more information contact: The Asian Heritage Month Festival Coordinators, Saeed Khan or Sonnia Kim at (416) 598-7993; or marvalous konekshuns at (416) 977-0605 or email: info@konekshuns.com

The Third Annual Asian Heritage Month Festival gratefully acknowledges the support of the following: Harbourfront Centre,Canada Council,Ontario Arts Council,Toronto Arts Council,Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto,Canadian Heritage,Air Canada,Polygram,CFMT Channel 47,CBC Radio,ckln 88.1 fm,CIUT-FM,CHRY-FM,Sing Tao Daily Newspaper,The Iranian Star,The Nikkei Voice,India Journal,World Journal, New Canadian,Asian Horizons,AM 530.