May is Asian Pacific Islander Month, and there are multiple ways to celebrate; for California State University Bakersfield, they hosted a Kern County Oceania Culture and Arts Festival to celebrate the Pacific Islander culture and traditions on April 27.

Several CSUB students and Bakersfield locals attended the festival to see what the festival was about and to learn more about the Pacific Islander culture.

The festival was held in the Recreation Center at CSUB and was filled with local vendors selling their merchandise, and food vendors who set up outside the Recreation Center.

The festival was supposed to have a band perform live music for the audience, but the campus experienced a power outage. Even though there was no power or live music, the festival continued on by having a series of dance performances.

Dance groups such as the Tatou Uma Pasefika Cultural Arts, Aloha Entertainment, and Kahlua Huli Kalua preformed, and each group got to perform different traditional dance routines, including Hula dances.

The purpose of the festival was to celebrate the culture, history, and traditions of those who come from the Pacific Islander ancestry.

“It’s a celebration of all Pacific Islander cultures. Specific to Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia. We have a community of those ethnicities here in Bakersfield and we haven’t done anything, so it is finally something we can be proud of and present to other people because there is little to known knowledge about us,” said Angelica Eke, the Director of the Tatou Uma Pasefika Cultural Arts.

Eke also explained that the festival is about representation because there is a small Pacific Islander community in Bakersfield, CA. Not all Bakersfield residents are aware of this local community and this event was a great way to help everyone learn about their culture.

“I am all about Hawaiian culture…Bakersfield has a very Hispanic demographic and I think the Polynesian and Asian cultures are very similar to the love that is within the culture, so I would love to see more of it,” said Michelle Soza, a local vendor participating in this event.

For some Bakersfield residents, this was their first time seeing this kind of cultural event.

“I’ve always enjoyed watching it because I know everything tells a story. This is the first time I’ve seen this type of event,” said attendee Shawnette Sharpe.

The Pasifika Festival was an event that really caught the attention of many Bakersfield residents who attended the event.