Rhythmix Cultural Works
and the City of Alameda Present
Asian and Pacific Islander Arts & Culture Festival
Saturday, April 26, 2025 • 12-5PM
Sign Up to Volunteer! From setup to check-in, help support the arts.
Celebrate Asian and Pacific Islander heritage with live music, dance, food and family art activities at Alameda’s beautiful Bohol Circle Immigrant Park!
Experience a lively array of music and dance from local performing ensembles including traditional Hawaiian hula from Alameda’s very own Hālau Makana, folk music from the Philippines with The Sampaguitas, exciting Punjabi folk dance with Dholrhythms Dance Company of Non Stop Bhangra and vibrant drumming from South Korea with Korean Culture Center – Urisawe, and more.
Participate in hands-on art activities for kids and tickle your tastebuds with mouthwatering Asian and Pacific inspired foods – all while enjoying the beautiful waterfront views.
The Rhythmix Asian & Pacific Islander Arts & Culture Festival is produced in partnership with the City of Alameda’s Recreation and Park Department and is supported in part by the William & Flora Hewlett Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
Sign Up to Volunteer! From setup to check-in, help support the arts.
Featured Performers
Hālau Makana’s mission is to preserve the Hawaiian, Tahitian, and Māori cultures through dance, art and music, sharing these cultural art forms with the community and anyone who has a desire to learn.
Hālau Makana is the only professional Polynesian Dance Company located in Alameda, California.
Founded by performer/teacher Me Sook Ko (originally from Seoul, Korea), Korean Culture Center – Urisawe is dedicated to promoting and cultivating Korean cultural awareness through the performing arts in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Built and supported by parents, students and office workers, Urisawe promotes cultural diversity by performing at community and multi-cultural events throughout the Bay Area and offers traditional Korean dance and music classes with professional artists and teachers.
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, The Sampaguitas sing Filipino folk songs and inspired originals in three-part harmony. Drawing influences from folk, blues, doo-wop girl groups, and the Filipinx-American diaspora, Jenevieve Francisco, Cristina Ibarra, and Aireene Espiritu share music from their roots and explore what it means to be in a “third culture” between worlds. The sampaguita is the national flower of the Philippines and only fitting to describe the sweet sounds coming from their melded vocal textures, tones, and tight harmonies.
Dholrhythms is an all-women dance company dedicated to celebrating the vibrant rhythms and cultural heritage of Punjab, India. For over 20 years, Dholrhythms has created a welcoming and joyful space where people of all backgrounds can experience the infectious energy of Punjabi music and dance.
Founded in 2008, the organization serves the Samoan/Pasefika community in the San Francisco Bay Area, evolving from a Samoan Arts & Cultural Festival idea to addressing broader community needs. Guided by values of service, respect, and love, they offer programs that preserve Samoan language and culture while adapting to the challenges faced by their community. Over 15 years, they’ve partnered with others to create a brighter future, honoring the legacy of their ancestors and empowering future generations.
Proud to be the first and currently only Vietnamese-American dance school in the Bay Area, Viet Steps believes that dance training is life training. Viet Steps instructors are highly trained professional dancers who believe in building a solid foundation of technique in all of their dance disciplines including traditional Vietnamese, Hip Hop, Jazz, Ballet, and Dancesport. Founded in 2017, Viet Steps has brought traditional Vietnamese dance to Lunar New Year festivals, Moon Festivals and other events throughout the Bay Area.
Based in San Francisco’s Chinatown, Lion Dance ME specializes in traditional Chinese lion dance, music, and entertainment. What began as a high school club has grown into a thriving organization offering programs in schools across the city. Recently featured in Sarasota, Florida’s annual Winter Wonderland hosted by Nik Wallenda and The Circus Arts Conservatory, Lion Dance ME has also been showcased on America’s Got Talent and made history with the first female Western Lion King title. Dedicated to preserving the cultural art of dragon and lion dance, Lion Dance ME continues to inspire through its youth programs and performances throughout San Francisco and beyond.
The Oakland Khmer Angkor Dance Troupe preserves and promotes Cambodian traditional dance through education, performance, and community engagement. For over 25 years, they have empowered youth, fostered cross-cultural understanding, and enriched Oakland’s cultural tapestry. Supporting artistic growth, they provide opportunities for creative expression while preserving Khmer heritage through an archive of dance, costumes, music, and history.
This event is made possible with support from:
Banner photo credit: Alvaro Batista Photography.
FREE Family-Friendly Performance Series
Grab your chairs and blankets, pack a picnic lunch and head outdoors! Get ready for fun all summer long as Rhythmix and the City of Alameda’s Recreation and Park Department bring people of all ages together to experience and explore music, dance, visual art and educational opportunities through a series of free, family-friendly concerts in Alameda’s City Parks.
Join us at Rhythmix in the Parks and help us support our community by:
- – celebrating our diverse cultural traditions;
- – uplifting underserved voices;
- – supporting BIPOC artists;
- – redefining Alameda’s City parks as accessible and safe spaces to be enjoyed by all;
- – embracing the City of Alameda’s motto: “Everyone Belongs Here.”
Support the Arts in Your Community
Volunteer! From setup to check-in, help support the arts.
Donate! Rhythmix in the Parks is supported by people like YOU! Please consider making a donation to help support free multicultural programming for the community.
Become a Sponsor! If you’d like to be a sponsor for Rhythmix in the Parks or other Rhythmix programming, please contact: info@rhythmix.org
Past Concerts
Bienvenido a ‘Round the World: Music, Dance & Art Festival at Chochenyo Park, Alameda! From the sounds of the Afro-Peruvian cajón and rhythms of Puerto Rican bomba, to Brasilian percussion and Colombian-Afro-Latin-Pop, Rhythmix Cultural Works and the City of Alameda invite you to celebrate Latin & Indigenous culture at ‘Round the World – Music, Dance and Art Festival, Saturday, September 21 from 12:00 – 5:00pm at Chochenyo Park in Alameda.
At Tillman Park, visitors of all ages danced along to the traditional sounds of Sekhou Senegal. Sekhou Senegal is a West African music and dance ensemble created by twin brothers Ousseynou and Assane Kouyate. Ousseynou and Assane were born and raised in Senegal, Africa, from a family line originating in Mali and Guinea. They come from a long line of griots — the poets, historians, storytellers, and keepers of West African song and dance traditions.
At Littlejohn Park, we enjoyed a performance by AZA, featuring united traditional Tamazight (incorrectly labeled “Berber”) music, indigenous to North Africa, with the global influences of its diverse members. With elements of indigenous Moroccan musical styles, including Ahwash, Rwais, and Gnawa – among others – AZA’s stirring performance featured deep, danceable rhythms, intricate melodies, and soaring, soulful vocals. Visually dynamic and engaging performers, AZA has been inspiring international audiences for more than 20 years.
We joined Rhonda Benin & Friends at Woodstock Park, and explored the question: What is Freedom? Rhonda helped us discover how the music created by enslaved African Americans expressed their desire and plans for freedom, and how that music helped them survive. An audience of all ages enjoyed this uplifting celebration of Black music and history.
From the sounds of the cajon to the rhythms of bomba, the Rhythmix PAL in the Parks Hispanic Heritage Festival highlights culture, tradition, music, dance, art and food from Central and South America, the Caribbean and Mexico. Featuring performances by the Ka-Hon Ensemble, Batey Tambo, Bululú, La Cumbiamba Colombiana and more!
What would the world of sound be without percussion instruments? Rogue Rhythms brings the vitality of drumming to a whole new level for the young and young at heart! Rogue Rhythms travels around the world, introducing drums and rhythms from different cultures and countries, giving new and veteran drummers thrilling examples of sound, beat, and rhythm! Rogue Rhythms will get you dancing, playing shakers, & grooving to the beats of global drumming traditions, encouraging onlookers to join in the fun of music making for all.
Led by New Orleans-native Michelle Jacques, the Bay Area’s own CHELLE and Friends brings to Rhythmix, a fun filled family show that features the soul of New Orleans. CHELLE! & Friends is made up of some of the most distinguished and accomplished musicians in the San Francisco Bay Area, including Rhonda Crane and Bryan Dyer on vocals and percussion, Donna Viscuso on saxophone, Eric Swinderman on guitar, Kevin Scott on bass and Michaelle Goerlitz on drums. CHELLE! & Friends’ Kids concerts deliver music to make you want to move your feet, play instruments, sing along and join a Mardi Gras parade!
Gamelan Sekar Jaya’s jegog ensemble presents an interactive and engaging program designed to encourage kids and kids at heart to get out of their seats and bang on some bamboo! Jegog is a dynamic and athletic artform from West Bali that uses giant bamboo instruments arranged in a four-tone scale, demonstrating the wide array of musical techniques that are possible with just a few notes. This performance includes exciting jegog standards like “Makepung” (“Buffalo Race”), a crowd-pleasing social dance called “Joged,” and a brand-new 2023 composition called “Bagog Gede” from Gamelan Sekar Jaya’s jegog director, I Gede Oka Artha Negara, which combines traditional jegog with a Balinese bronze instrumental genre called baleganjur. Audience members will get a chance to clap along, dance alongside our troupe, and even try out the instruments for themselves!
Celebrate Asian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month with family and friends at Alameda’s beautiful, new Bohol Circle Immigrant Park! Feel the resonant sounds of the kulintang from the Philippines, enjoy the gentle sway of Hawaiian hula, and hear the vibrant stringed instruments from Vietnam – all while enjoying the beautiful waterfront views. Featuring hands-on art activities for youth with the Alameda Education Foundation, Swings & Wings and the Alameda Free Library Book Bike. Food Trucks by: Chef Hits the Street (Poke Bowls) and Ayobowan (Sri Lankan Cuisine).
