Section Branding
Header Content
Country’s biggest outdoor Asian food festival, Panda Fest, debuts in Atlanta April 4
Primary Content
Billed as the “biggest outdoor Asian food festival in the US,” Panda Fest heads to Atlanta for the first time, April 4-6, bringing with it hundreds of food stalls lining Atlantic Station’s Pinnacle Lot in Midtown.
Expect Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Japanese, Malaysian, and Vietnamese dishes from food vendors throughout the weekend, including several local restaurants and pop-ups.
Panda Fest founder BiuBiu Xu said she’s always wanted to expand the Asian food festival to the South. Atlanta was the natural choice.
“Atlanta is one of the major Southern cities with a large Asian population, and there is a large interest in Asian cuisine, with Buford Highway and other areas of Atlanta showcasing our culture and food,” Xu told Rough Draft.
Xu and her Panda Fest team found many of its local food vendors through word of mouth and social media. In addition to food stalls from Los Angeles, Miami, Nashville, and New York restaurants, Panda Fest will feature more than two dozen Metro Atlanta Asian and Pacific Islander restaurants and businesses.
“I’m hoping to represent as many AAPI (Asian-American and Pacific Islander) cultures as I can with the lineup,” Xu said of the Atlanta food stalls. “We are excited to see people experience food from so many Asian cultures at one time and in one place.”
Christine Nguyen of Rebel Teahouse in Decatur said she and other local AAPI businesses hope to make new connections with Panda Fest’s scale.
“As organizers of local festivals ourselves, we’re super appreciative of the power of festivals to represent cultures, engage the community, and celebrate amazingly talented people,” Nguyen explained. “It’s always motivating to interact with and be surrounded by all of the creativity, ambition, and excitement that the other vendors bring to these events.”
Panda Fest will host apparel, toy, and beauty vendors such as wbyl crochet and Sweet Intentions Shop. The weekend will also feature cultural performances like lion dance shows and K-Pop dancing and craft demonstrations, such as sugar painting and paper cutting.
Panda Fest runs Friday, April 4, through Sunday, April 6. While weekend passes for the three-day food festival are sold out, some single-day tickets remain availablefor $9 per person. Tickets must be purchased in advance.
This is Panda Fest’s first stop on a nationwide tour outside of its New York City home base. The outdoor food festival makes other stops in Boston, Seattle, Philadelphia, and the Twin Cities.
Check out the local food vendors taking part in Atlanta’s inaugural Panda Fest:
6-Pack Subs Vietnamese Cuisine
The Atlanta-based truck will offer Vietnamese fare, such as banh mi sandwiches, spring rolls, Vietnamese-style tacos, and noodle bowls.
Bi Bop Tea Talk
Douglasville-based Bi Bop Tea Talk will serve Vietnamese coffee and taiyaki (Japanese fish-shaped cake).
Bite More
Looking for a 100-percent halal option at Panda Fest? Buckhead-based Bite More will serve halal Korean fried chicken and Mexican-style burgers.
Look for assorted bubble teas from this Duluth-based drinks spot.
No stranger to Metro Atlanta farmers markets, festivals, and specialty retailers like Ebisu, Can Cakes will offer an array of portable desserts, including tiramisu, during Panda Fest.
Expect all-beef Korean-style corn dogs dipped in panko with toppings, including Hot Cheetos and Fruity Pebbles, as well as boba tea and lemonade.
Finger Licking
Midtown-based Finger Licking will serve Japanese-American-style teppanyaki prepared on a griddle.
Festival and Pullman Yards market vendor Flames & Skewers will serve a variety of Filipino-style skewers and street corn.
Expect a selection of favorites from the local Malaysian restaurant chain, including satay chicken skewers, crispy pig ears, Sichuan-steamed wontons, and sticky mango rice.
Peachtree Corners-based Gohan Market plans to sell a selection of its snacks.
Doraville Taiwanese fried chicken joint Java Saga will serve salt crispy chicken, fried chicken cutlets, roll cakes, and gravy rice.
JOJO Takoyaki
Local takoyaki (balls of fried octopus) purveyor JOJO will serve the signature Osakan street food.
Expect popular savory dishes from Doraville’s Michelin-recommended Filipino restaurant. (Think chicken adobo, lechon sisig rice, wok-fried green beans, and ube churros.)
Johns Creek-based Kani House will sell Japanese food and carbonated water.
Doraville’s Kochi Maru will feature a selection of barbecue skewers.
Local bakery Lemonsweets will serve cake jars, cupcakes, fruit sandos, and cheesecake.
You may have already encountered Lonely Sweets at a Pullman Yards market in Kirkwood, but if not, prepare yourself for a real treat at the operation’s first festival.
Loan Ly’s homemade baked goods operation will include mini cakes (tres leches, strawberry shortcake, blueberry lemon, cookie butter, and cookies and cream), cupcakes (ube, matcha, lychee raspberry, strawberry matcha, vanilla, vegan ube, and vegan, gluten-free chocolate), and banana pudding (ube, red velvet, and matcha).
Local gluten-free baking operation Love It Gluten Free will serve gluten-free bao, taiyaki, and rice crisp treats. You’ve likely encountered this pop-up at Rebel Teahouse.
Midtown-based Mukja Korean Fried Chicken will offer chicken katsu curry with cucumber kimchi, bulgogi dupbap with Korean slaw, sweet corn, and cucumber kimchi, and chicken katsu dupbap.
No stranger to the local festival circuit, Decatur-based Rebel Teahouse will offer an array of customizable bubble tea drinks. The stall will feature merch, like stickers and cup sleeves.
Look for bao flavors like mapo tofu beef and char siu from this Avondale Estates Farmers Market pop-up.
Sisters Kitchen
Atlanta Night Market favorite Sisters Kitchen will serve Laotian and Thai cuisine.
Local dessert behemoth Sugar Shane’s plans to sell its massive cookies and decadent cookie bars at Panda Fest.
Local Asian bakery chain Sweet Hut will serve its popular barbecue pork buns.
Expect hibachi and a few Korean appetizers from this Georgia-based Japanese-Korean restaurant chain.
This Alpharetta-based shop will serve bubble tea, along with rolled ice cream.
This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Rough Draft Atlanta.
Secondary Content
Author
Bottom Content
