The first-ever Bainbridge Island Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Festival series was an upswell of community support, new connections and history.

Held throughout May and the first day of June, the series highlighted the impact and legacy of the local Asian American community through art, games, dances, book readings, food, live music and more. The series coincided with national Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month and long-standing local events like the Strawberry Festival.

Despite the historical roots of the Asian American community on BI, the event series was the first of its kind, organizer Denise Stoughton said. Stephanie Reese, the brain behind the festival, proposed the idea to AHB. Just two months later, Reese and Stoughton had coordinated seven events, found sponsors and laid the groundwork for a new BI tradition.

“It’s the only festival in Washington that’s inclusive of all AAPI identities,” Stoughton said. “This has been a dream for so long, and something that we felt was long overdue. It felt like a way to say, ‘Thank you for seeing us.’”

Each event honored a different aspect of Bainbridge’s Asian community—themes ranging from a jovial party atmosphere to quiet reflection to a relaxed and upbeat market vibe.

Events kicked off with the Moonlight Market May 3, which offered local art and wares by AAPI artists plus mini-craftmaking, followed by bingo and a potluck at the Filipino Hall May 12. The next week, a professional nature therapist led attendees on a guided Japanese forest-bathing walk through the Moritani Preserve May 18, and local activist Gina Corpuz hosted a screening of the documentary “Honor Thy Mother,” which describes the history of the unacknowledged Indipino community on BI.

Corpuz leads a nonprofit that advocates for the Indipino community. Her group is active, but small, which limits its bandwidth; when Arts and Humanities Bainbridge tapped Corpuz for the festival, it created a new opportunity for outreach.

“It took a long time to find a safe place to tell our story, because there’s never been any real text or film about us […] A festival is cotton candy and hot dogs, but we saw a lot of people stop to read our literature,” Corpuz said. “Because it’s been so well-received, it’s inspired us to go deeper.”

Things ramped up in the last week of May. The annual Strawberry Festival — a local staple — was held May 25 at the Filipino Community Hall, complete with dancing and coronation of the Strawberry Princess. May 29 saw author and fisherman Dylan Tomine and City Councilmember Clarence Moriwaki share local historical images and selections from the memoir of Satsuki Ina, Tomine’s mother, at Eagle Harbor Books.

Tomine holds a deep appreciation for BI’s writing scene. Like Corpuz, he was surprised to see that the majority of attendees were not writers or Japanese Americans. “I think for people to be interested in someone else’s heritage is a good sign of a healthy, supportive community and of open-mindedness,” he said.

The series culminated in the June 1 Asian Arts Festival — a giant bash like all the prior events rolled into one.