Hundreds of people flocked to downtown Knoxville this weekend to experience food, art, traditions, and cultures from the Asian continent.
More than fifteen countries were represented Sunday during the third annual Knoxville Asian Festival. UT staff and students volunteered their time and efforts to contribute to the success of the celebration.
The UT Confucius Institute demonstrated Chinese calligraphy during the festival. Azsha Treanor, a fourth-year student at UT, was one of the event’s emcees.
Festival organizer Kumi Alderman, a native of Japan, is a lecturer on cooking for UT’s non-credit program.
Other volunteers included members of the UT Asian American Association.
WBIR-TV Channel 10 interviewed volunteer Rachel Rui for this story. Rui, who is public relations coordinator for the Department of Chemistry, noted that the festival gave attendees the opportunity to get to know the different cultures in Asia and in the East Tennessee community.