Organization

Cambodia Town Parade and Culture Festival


The Cambodia Town Parade and Culture Festival (CTPCF) is an annual Cambodian New Year parade and festival on Anaheim Street in the Cambodia Town district of Long Beach, California.[1] It is organized by Cambodia Town Inc. and held in April as part of Cambodian Heritage Month.[2][3] The first Cambodian New Year Parade took place on April 24, 2005, and the parade and festival have run under the CTPCF name since 2019.[1] Its organizers and the city's visitor bureau count it as the first Cambodian parade held outside Cambodia.[4][5]

History

From 2002 the Cambodia Town Initiative Task Force and Cambodian organizations, among them the Cambodian-American Chamber of Commerce, the Cambodian Coordinating Councils and Phnom Penh Sister Cities, sought the Long Beach City Council's approval for a Cambodia Town district. In 2004 Council Member Laura Richardson committed to help organize a first Cambodian New Year Parade.[1] Its planners meant the parade to present the Anaheim corridor as home to the largest Cambodian community outside Southeast Asia, to celebrate the corridor's Cambodian and other ethnic communities and businesses, to build understanding among its residents, to draw Cambodian Americans into city life and to promote unity in the Cambodian community.[1]

The parade committee first chose Saturday, April 17, 2005, because it fell near the three-day Khmer New Year and did not clash with another major event. Some community members objected because April 17 was the date in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge took Phnom Penh. Two more town hall meetings, the second at MacArthur Park, again chose April 17, and opponents protested at a City Council meeting.[1] Meeting at Kirirom Jewelry Shop, the committee decided that unity in the community mattered most. At a fourth town hall at MacArthur Park on February 22, 2005, where Richardson introduced Sithea San as parade spokesperson, the committee moved the parade to Sunday, April 24, 2005.[1]

The first parade, on April 24, 2005, carried the theme "Don't Forget the Past and Embrace the Future". It drew thousands of adults and children along Anaheim Street, and Apsara dancers and pin peat musicians rode on a float.[1][6] The 2005 and 2006 parades were coordinated by the Cambodian New Year Parade Association. The Cambodian Coordinating Councils (CamCC) then ran the parade from 2007 to 2019, along with an annual Cambodian New Year celebration at El Dorado Park.[1]

Cambodia Town, Inc. was formed as a nonprofit on November 4, 2005, by members of the Cambodia Town Initiative Task Force and the wider community. Its founding members were Evan A. Braude, Sandy Cajas, Meng Kim Chea, Pasin Chanou, Rosana Chanou, Al Day, Chhim Him, Krithny Horn, Sakphan Keam, Harrison Lee, Peter Long, Dr. Susan Needham, Richer San, Sithea San, Tony Taing, Edward Tan, Phillip Thong and Danny Vong.[7] In 2007 the city named a 1.2-mile (1.9 km) stretch of Anaheim Street, between Atlantic and Junipero avenues, Cambodia Town.[4][8] The festival in its present form began in 2009, when California State University, Dominguez Hills developed an exhibition of Cambodian arts and handicrafts with Cambodia Town.[5]

In 2019 CamCC stopped hosting its New Year project because of budget limits and competition from celebrations in other Cambodian communities, and it encouraged Cambodia Town to take over the parade. Cambodia Town joined the parade to its culture festival as the Cambodia Town Parade and Culture Festival.[1]

During the COVID-19 pandemic the event moved online. The 2020 edition, with the theme "Spirit of Apsara," was held virtually on September 27, 2020, and the second virtual edition, on April 24, 2021, took the theme "Celebrating the Diversity of the Cambodian Civilization."[1] The 14th annual event returned in person on April 3, 2022, and drew several thousand spectators and participants from Los Angeles and Orange counties. Cambodia Town says it reached about five million viewers in the United States and Cambodia through social media.[1][9]

Editions

2023 (15th)

The 15th annual event on April 2, 2023, drew thousands to a one-mile stretch of Anaheim Street, with the theme "Stop Hate With Love," a response to rising hate crimes against Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.[10] After an interfaith program and a blessing by Buddhist monks, the parade ran about half a mile from Anaheim Street and Cherry Avenue to MacArthur Park, where the festival ran from 1 to 5 p.m.[10][9] The kickboxer Oum Ry Ban was among the grand marshals, and the Long Beach Phnom Penh Sister Cities Romvong Team danced in the parade. Booths included the United Cambodian Community of Long Beach, The Children's Clinic, Pacific Asian Counseling Services and the Global Refugee Awareness Healing Center, and an exhibit showed Colin Grafton's photographs of Cambodian refugee camps in the early 1980s.[10] Sankranta, a separate Khmer New Year celebration, was held in Long Beach for the first time that year.[9]

2024 (16th)

The 16th edition on April 7, 2024, took the theme "Celebrate a Culture of Unity and Peace" (also given as "Celebrate a Culture of Peace and Unity").[5][6] Fifty community groups, politicians, personalities and businesses joined the half-mile procession to MacArthur Park, among them a Long Beach Airport float, an Arts Council for Long Beach double-decker bus, Khmer Girls in Action and the Cambodia Town Film Festival. The Romvong Team of Long Beach danced in "Stop The Hate" sashes.[5][11] Mariko Kahn co-chaired the event. It had 55 parade entries and 90 Buddhist monks marching, and the festival grounds held about 2,000 to 3,000 people at any one time.[12] The festival had more than 60 booths, musicians who came from Cambodia and demonstrations of ancient Angkor ceramics by the master ceramist Yary Livan.[11][6] An afterparty at Trademark Brewing offered Cambodian music, dancing, food and a Cambodian rice lager.[5]

2025 (17th)

The 17th edition on April 6, 2025, took the theme "We Are Stronger When We Celebrate Together." It began at 9 a.m. with an interfaith blessing on Anaheim Street in front of MacArthur Park, and a new route ran along Anaheim Street and Alamitos Avenue to the Long Beach City College Pacific Coast Campus at 1305 East Pacific Coast Highway, where the festival ran from 1 to 6 p.m.[8][3] The grand marshals were former U.S. Representative Alan Lowenthal, Rong Be, Chad Sammeth and Mary Kheng. The festival had more than 70 booths, a large temple booth selling Cambodian food, and performances by Khmer classical and folk dancers alongside Hmong, Filipino, South Asian, Hawaiian and African American artists.[3]

2026 (18th)

On January 25, 2026, Cambodia Town and the Cambodian American Cultural Center announced a date change so that city resources for the parade would be available.[13] The 18th edition took place on Saturday, April 4, 2026, with the theme "Peace Through Culture: Celebrating Unity Through Diversity"; Cambodia Town's own video gives it as "Celebrating Unity In Diversity."[14][15] An interfaith blessing was held at 9 a.m. near Anaheim Street and Cherry Avenue. The parade left Anaheim Street and Orange Avenue at 10 a.m. and traveled west about one mile through the district, and the festival ran from noon to 9 p.m. at the Long Beach City College Trade and Technology Campus. Admission was free.[14][16][2][17] Richer San, a co-chair of Cambodia Town, said the event took great effort and time and was made for a community that looks forward to it.[16]

Program

The day begins with a traditional interfaith blessing on Anaheim Street. The parade features classical and folk dancers, Buddhist monks, community organizations, marching bands, floats and dignitaries, and it honors the people lost during the Khmer Rouge genocide.[8][17] The culture festival that follows offers live performances by Cambodian and local artists, Khmer artisans and handicrafts, Cambodian food vendors, family games and demonstrations of traditional Khmer martial arts such as labokator and kun Khmer boxing.[8][3][11] Cambodia Town relies on sponsors, donors, the City of Long Beach and scores of volunteers to stage the event each year.[1]

The parade began as a way to celebrate Cambodian New Year and unite Long Beach's Cambodian community, and it has grown into a multicultural event.[8][14] Cambodia Town calls it one of Long Beach's largest community events, and National Today calls it one of the largest Cambodian cultural celebrations in the United States.[2][16]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 Cambodia Town, Parade and Culture Festival
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Cambodia Town, Inc.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Phnom Penh Post (April 4, 2025)
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Visit Long Beach, annual events listing
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 AsAmNews (April 10, 2024)
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Press-Telegram, Cambodia Town Parade, Culture Festival returns for 16th year this weekend (April 3, 2024)
  7. ↑ Cambodia Town, History
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 Long Beach Local News (April 7, 2025)
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Long Beach Post, Long Beach to host 1st Sankranta celebration amid concerns in Cambodian community (March 31, 2023)
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 Press-Telegram (April 3, 2023)
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Press-Telegram (April 7, 2024)
  12. ↑ Points of Light, How One Woman Promotes Cambodian Culture and Community (2026)
  13. ↑ Cambodia Town, Facebook, date change announcement (January 2026)
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Visit Long Beach, Cambodia Town Parade and Festival returns
  15. ↑ Cambodia Town, Facebook, official 2026 parade video
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 National Today (April 2, 2026)
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Arts Council for Long Beach, Cambodia Town Parade and Culture Festival (2026)
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This page was last edited on 26 September 2026, at 23:18.