A month-long dining festival highlighting Asian food in Richmond will return to the city this fall.
, launched by the Richmond News and Hamazaki Wong Marketing Group, had around 25 restaurants participate last year.
This year from Oct. 18 to Nov. 18, an estimated 50 Asian restaurants in Richmond will provide special 鈥渇east鈥 menus with a number of signature dishes at a set price starting from $19 per person.
鈥淭his is a celebration of one of our cultural jewels,鈥 said Sonny Wong, creative director at Hamazaki Wong Marketing Group.
鈥淥ne of the cultural assets we have here in Richmond is the best Asian food in North America. I don鈥檛 think we, in our backyard, know enough about that.鈥
He said food lovers participating in the festival would not need to ponder what food to order anymore, but can instead choose a set menu with at least one signature dish recommended by the restaurant operators.
鈥淪ome restaurants participating last year told us, because of their participation in the Feast, they were able to attract many people outside of the community, people who don鈥檛 usually frequent the restaurants,鈥 Wong added.
Alvin Chow, publisher of the Richmond News, said they hope the festival will educate the public about different kinds of Asian food in the city.
鈥淧eople tend to go to the same restaurants they like, but the festival will give them an opportunity to open up horizons and try something different,鈥 he said.
After a successful run last year, this year鈥檚 festival has expanded from two weeks to one month, to meet the expected high demand, and will focus on Richmond restaurants only.
鈥淭hat is really to allow us to focus geographically on the ground zero for Asian food in Metro 麻豆传媒映画and throughout North America 鈥 Richmond,鈥 said Wong.
鈥淎nd the expanded time period gives people more opportunities to try the vast number of restaurants...it also gives time to people outside of the Lower Mainland to plan to come to Richmond and enjoy the food.鈥
To raise awareness about restaurants participating in the still young festival, this year the festival will work with local celebrities who are interested in food to develop a FEAST ambassador program, according to Chow.
Restaurants that sign up before the end of June, will be given an 鈥渆arly bird鈥 special as well as a chance to win round-trip flight tickets to Hong Kong.
鈥淲e are confident that we will continue to excel this year and create first class food experiences that welcome the world,鈥 said Chow.
For more information or if you are interested in participating in the festival, visit AsianFeast.ca or contact Alex Ma at 604-353-4093.