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If you are from Grand Prairie, or surrounding areas, you probably know about Asia Times Square. It is one of the largest Asian markets in Texas. It's also my favorite place to go for a boba drink at Bambu Dessert & Drink. Asia Times Square is a complete shopping experience that counts with a variety of dining options, professional services, grocery shopping, Beauty shops and much more. ATS takes pride in preserving and honoring the Asian community and they celebrate one of the most important asian holiday, which is the Lunar New Year festival: a festivity that houses a multi-ethnic population.
This year, I had the amazing opportunity to offer my services as a face painter in this festival which was celebrated from January 21st to February 6th. In my experience, this has to be one of the most successful, family friendly, energetic and culturally rich environments I have ever been to. I was located indoors, along with my partner (A.R. crafts and designs), who provided lanterns for the children to decorate. In front of us, there was a vendor with a sugar cane extractor which took me down the path of memory lane to Puerto Rico. We were also very close to the stage, therefore, I was able to get a glimpse of the many amazing K-pop performances as I was face painting.
There was lion dances about every two hours. A lion dance is an acrobatic dance that brings good luck and scares the bad spirits away. My son was able to "feed"one of the lions with money and we got to see them perform right in front of us. The members of the group are talented performers that put a lot of practice and effort to make these Lion dances amazing. These groups are also very culturally inclusive, much like everything on this event.
Within the lion dances, on-stage performances, and the overall crowd, you could see how inclusive the Asian community is. The CEO of Asia Times Square, Matthew Loh, spoke on a recent interview to The ShortHorn about the joy of seeing non-Asians come together to celebrate an Asian holiday. This is exactly what I witnessed during the two weekends that I was face painting: a beautiful mix of cultures coming together to enjoy and take part in the Lunar Year festival.
I had the most wonderful time sharing my art with this community. I painted a lot of cherry blossoms, unicorns, dragons, butterflies and every single child (and adult) left my chair with a smile on their face. The parents allowed me to capture quite a few moments of happiness and share those magicals smiles here.
Thank You Asia Times Square, for allowing KaLiam Party Faces to be a part of this beautiful event and thank you to all of the parents who supported my small business. 'Till Next year!
With Love and Gratitude,
- Karla