ATX Kicks off AAPI Heritage Month
Written by Shelby Schulz | May 7 2026
During the last weekend of April, Asian Season ATX hosted their AAPI Month Kickoff at the Spring Valley location of Austin Beerworks. Asian Season ATX is an Austin based non-profit that strives to spotlight the local Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander community. They are successful in doing so by hosting events, markets, and artist showcases.
Photos by Shelby Schulz
Founded in 2024 by artist, Andy Dunlavey, and baker, Cedric Silan, Asian Season ATX is completely volunteer lead. The organization has been hosting the AAPI Monthly Kickoff annually, in celebration of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, which takes place each May. 2026 marks their third anniversary for the Kickoff event!
This year’s event was held outside of Austin Beerworks, packed with rows of vendors, food trucks, and attendees. At the center was a shaded area lined with picnic tables, then, to one side, vendors sold merchandise, from food to homemade art, and other goods. The wide range of items for sale included jewelry, paintings, photos, candles, snacks, ceramics, clothing, and crocheted items. The variety of food options included kimchi, pad thai, tacos, boba, sushi, and snow cones.
For entertainment, a diverse array of performances was held on Austin Beerworks’ outdoor stage. The first three performances featured both solo and duo sets by local musicians. Kicking things off was pop artist Francene Rouelle — one of the musicians working with Asian American music label, mHart. She sang onstage while Waverly, also of mHart, accompanied her on guitar. Next up was Independent, a rapper who moved to Texas from the Philippines at the age of 19. His performance was energetic and collaborative, as he spent most of his set dancing in front of the stage with an audience member, and shared the personal meaning behind a few of his songs with listeners. Closing the musical performances was a duo called Kapwa. The music they performed was theatrical; they began their set by announcing they'd be sharing music from Filipino cabaret culture.
Opening for the second half of performances was the Austin Filipino Cultural Dance Troupe. Made up of six dancers onstage, the members holding bamboo castanets performed a traditional Filipino dance. The following group to perform was ATX Artists for Social Impact, a four piece band that performed a set of jazz music. Their instrumentation consisted of drums, keyboard, upright bass, and a tap dancer. The last performance of the day was a Southern Sea Dragon and Lion Dance. A group of performers stood at the back of the stage and kept a rhythm going with cymbals and drums while the lion and sea dragon danced onstage. After dancing for a bit, the sea dragon and lion ventured out into the audience to greet both visitors and vendors, marking the end of performances.
Photos by Shelby Schulz
Asian Season ATX’s annual event was well attended. A continuous crowd of people browsed the shops, enjoyed the live music, and purchased food to eat. The AAPI Monthly Kickoff aims to showcase local artists and members of the cultures belonging to the AAPI community. With such a diverse selection of food and goods being sold, the performances being shared, and the community coming together, it certainly felt like a successful and memorable celebration. It is a great reason to come out next year to support local businesses, non-profits, the umbrella of AAPI cultures, and have a blast while fostering cultural exchange.
