CelebrAsian Village Application Form

  • Village Registration Form

  • CelebrAsian 2026 | May 22-23 | 11am-10pm

    Dear Village Leader,

    We are thrilled to invite you to participate in the 23rd Annual CelebrAsian Festival on Friday, May 22, and Saturday, May 23!
    The festival is a vibrant celebration of Asian and Pacific Islander heritage, offering an immersive experience in the sights, sounds, and flavors of our diverse cultures. Each year, this festival attracts thousands of attendees from across the country, with recent turnouts averaging 65,000 visitors and featuring 16 cultural villages. By blending time-honored traditions with contemporary influences, we foster a deeper appreciation for our rich heritage and shared future.

    As always, our goal is to provide a high-quality, cost-effective, and inclusive event that is free and welcoming to all. Your partnership plays a vital role in bringing this cultural experience to life and strengthening Iowa’s dynamic, multicultural community.

    Our dedicated leadership team is eager to collaborate with you once again to ensure that CelebrAsian remains one of the premier cultural festivals in the Midwest. If you have any questions or need assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our
    amazing volunteer leaders listed below.


    2026 CelebrAsian Leaders

    Lisa Thai, Festival Chair | lisa.thai8@gmail.com | 515-771-2176
    Maulik Shroff, Festival Vice Chair | shroff.iowa@gmail.com | 515-779-9240

    Jade Cao, Village Director | 515-423-1125
    Abhishek Pandey, Vendor Director | 309-287-8729
    Addy Agarwal, Vendor Co-Director | 515-724-2849

    Email: celebrasian.villageandvendor@iowaasianalliance.com


    Again, we sincerely appreciate your commitment to celebrating cultural heritage
    and promoting lifelong learning. Together, let’s make the 23rd Asian Heritage
    Festival unforgettable!

    Sincerely,
    Nu Huynh - Executive Director, Iowa Asian Alliance
    nu@iowaasianalliance.com | 515-770-1026

  • Village Checklist and Key Dates

    (subject to changes as needed)

    • Monday, February 16 Village Meeting (online)
      • Kick-off meeting! Review changes, timeline, fees and theme.
    • March 15 – Online Application Deadline
      • To be reviewed and approved by Village Director.
    • Monday, March 23 Village Meeting (in-person/ online)
      • Application and payment in full by March 23 to participate in Village selection.
      • Review festival map. Village selection.
    • Monday, April 20 Village & Vendor Meeting (in-person/ online)
      • Temporary food license and inspection requirements by Food Inspector.
      • Fire safety requirements by Des Moines Fire Department.
      • Electrical requirements by Ziegler.
      • All outstanding info & forms due - extra equipment, electrical, performances, etc.
    • Monday, April 27 Village Meeting (online as needed)
      • Cooking demo info to celebrasian.culinary@iowaasianalliance.com.
      • Cultural performance & fashion show info to
        celebrasianentertainment@iowaasianalliance.com.
      • Village competition & judging

    • Monday, May 11 Village & Vendor Meeting (as needed)
      • Review final map, logistics and setup.

    • Thursday, May 21 @4:00pm – Western Gateway Park
      • Village setup, verify equipment, electrical needs, etc.
      • Entertainment run-through on main-stage as needed.
    • Friday, May 22 & Saturday, May 23 – Western Gateway Park
      • CELEBRASIAN! Villages may arrive NO earlier than 4PM Thursday to set up.
      • Villages may arrive NO earlier than 8AM Friday and Saturday for set up.
      • Setup must be completed, and all vehicles removed from festival grounds by 10AM.
      • All Villages and Food Vendors MUST remain open for visitors till close of festival at 10PM.
      • Submit sales tax form within 10 days post festival.


    Questions? Email leads at celebrasian.villageandvendor@iowaasianalliance.com
    Jade Cao, Village Director | 515-423-1125
    Abhishek Pandey, Vendor Director | 309-287-8729
    Addy Agarwal, Vendor Co-Director | 515-724-2849

  • Village Lead Role & Responsibilities

    Each Village should have two leads to ensure full participation and representation in CelebrAsian. Each Village will receive two festival shirts and two VIP Reception tickets.


    The Village Leads are responsible for ensuring the following tasks are completed by set deadlines:

    1. Ensure your community understands and follows the restrictions supplied for temporary food service, usage of space, electricity, entertainment, trash, grease disposal, and cleanup.
    2. Recruit enough volunteers to appropriately staff all Village tents and activities.
    3. Notify Village Director if, for any reason, your Village cannot host a minimum of 2 tents(Cultural and Gift). Failure to meet all criteria may result in forfeiting participation.
    4. Ensure all information and criteria provided in the CelebrAsian meetings are conveyed to your Village participants.
    5. April 27 Deadline
      1. Cultural Performance & Fashion Show Participation – Email Entertainment Committee at celebrasianentertainment@iowaasianalliance.com the following details: 
        1. Cultural Performance Participation and audio file(s).
        2. Fashion Show Participation, audio file(s) and description.
        3. Saturday Opening Ceremony – provide names of 2 Village reps to be on stage.
        4. Saturday VIP Reception – provide names of 2 Village attendees
      2. Culinary Tent Participation – Email Culinary Director, Bill Lu at
        celebrasian.culinary@iowaasianalliance.com the following details:
        1. Chef name(s), recipe(s), and applicable photo(s) to be featured.
        2. Questions – call Bill at 248-787-8211.
    6. Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals (515-281-7102):
      1. Complete and submit Temporary Food License no later than May 1. Approval must be received prior to festival dates.
      2. Hold 1:1 meeting with Food Inspector to ensure food and beverage items for sale will meet all prep and cooking criteria no later than May 5.
    7. Sales Tax Permit – provided by the Iowa Department of Revenue - 515-281 3114.
    8. Communicate any concerns/suggestions to CelebrAsian Executive Team in a timely manner.
    9. Encourage all participants of your Village to meet at the Western Gateway Park for set-up and Entertainment walk-through on Thursday, May 21 after 4:00pm.

  • Village Information

  • Format: (000) 000-0000.
  • Rows
    • Submit Food License and Sales Tax Permit if Applicable 
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  • Village Registration

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  • Village Fees – Our goal is to raise enough funds to help offset inflation and ensure your cultural and gift tents remain free. We encourage you to host a food tent for a complete Village experience.

    Cultural & Gift Tents – These 2 tents will depict the history, culture, and traditions of your Village. We encourage you to incorporate hands-on activities. You may also sell various gift items to help raise funds for your Village.

    Food Tent – This tent will sell food authentic to the designated culture. ONLY ONE established business food vendor allowed per village. All other established business food vendors MUST register individually as a business vendor. *

     

    Village Cultural/Gift Tent Spaces (Free)

    • Two 10' x 10' tents with sidewalls, basic lighting, and name signage

    • Two 8ft long table and Four chairs

    • Two Basic electrical units (20 amps) for additional lighting, laptop, phone charger, etc.

    • Limited refrigerated truck space for food vendors, convenient ice bags on-site for purchase

    • Clean water access, convenient trash and oil/water disposal

    • Electricity Form for Food Vendors & Vendors for Additional Electricity 
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    • Other Questions 

    • *Credits are Applied After Event.

    • Payment 
    • Total 

    • *$100 Late Fee for Application Submitted After April 1st

    • prevnext( X )
      USD

      Payment Methods

      creditcard
      After submitting the form, you will be redirected to Apple Pay to complete the payment.
      After submitting the form, you will be redirected to Google Pay to complete the payment.

    • *VILLAGES MAILING A CHECK MUST MAIL A SEPARATE $200 DEPOSIT CHECK. 

      We will only deposit the $200 check if there is any damage.

       

      Please make check(s) payable to Iowa Asian Alliance.

      Mail check along with the form to IAA’s billing address:

      Diversified Management Services
      Attn: IAA CelebrAsian
      1415 28th Street, Suite 400
      West Des Moines, IA 50266

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  • Village Logistics & Requirements AGREEMENT

    FESTIVAL SETUP
    ✔ Must have a valid Temporary Food License to sell food.
    ✔ Must have Sales Tax Permit to sell any goods or services.
    ✔ Participants agree to ONLY sell cultural beverages and hot drinks. NO water, sodas or alcohol can be sold outside of IAA.
    ✔ Bags of ice will be available for purchase from IAA onsite.
    ✔ A refrigerator truck is available on festival site for all food vendors to store food at no extra cost.
    ✔ No Villages will be allowed to set up without receipt of full payment.
    ✔ Each Village will be responsible for cleaning and bringing their own trash cans/bags as needed. IAA will provide one trash bin and one grease/water disposal bin per food tent.
    ✔ Villages and Vendors are prohibited from setting up pop-up tents without prior IAA approval. If IAA discovers a Village or Vendor has set up extra tents in their village, IAA has the right to remove it.
    ✔ Village tent area must be CLEARED of all trash, personal equipment and no damage to rented festival equipment and festival grounds to ensure full refund of damage deposit by end of event.
    ✔ Improper disposal of any grease or oil may result in fines and banned from future participation.
    ✔ Participants should arrive no earlier than 4:00pm Thursday for setup.
    ✔ Participants should arrive no earlier than 8:00am for setup on Friday & Saturday.
    ✔ Setup must be completed, and all vehicles removed from festival grounds by 10am.


    FESTIVAL SAFETY
    ✔ IAA will provide overnight security and general security during festival hours. However, every festival participant needs to ensure your tent(s) are secured and all valuable items are not left unattended.
    ✔ IAA will not be responsible for any injury to participants or for any loss or damage to any property including by reason of weather, fire, accident, theft, or any other cause.
    ✔ Each participant is responsible for all injury, damage, loss and death caused by participant or its employees in connection with its participation at the festival.


    FESTIVAL AESTHETICS
    ✔ IAA reserves the right to prohibit any booth or proposed booth which in its opinion is not suitable to, or in keeping with the character of, the festival. This reservation concerns persons, objects, conduct, printed matter, souvenirs, types of foods, and all other items that affect the character of the festival.
    ✔ Participant understands and agrees that IAA shall have the right to limit, control, regulate, or otherwise prohibit all signage to ensure consistency of signage and branding.
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