Hapa-palooza is an annual cultural arts festival held in

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, Canada. The name of the festival is a reference to the Hawaiian word 'hapa', meaning part or half, which is used as a broad term to describe people of mixed ancestry. It features art exhibitions, performances, panels, films, and a family picnic in the park. The purpose of the festival is to cultivate community and conversation among people identifying as having mixed heritage, to generate public awareness, and to provide positive role models for the next generation.

History

Conceived at the 2010 Gung Haggis Fat Choy dinner in Vancouver, BC, Hapa-palooza was co-founded by author, Anna Ling Kaye, filmmaker, Jeff Chiba Stearns and promoter, Zarah Martz in 2011. The inaugural festival ran from September 7 to 10, 2011. Hapa-palooza, run by the Hybrid Ancestry Public Arts Society, is the first mixed roots festival in Canada and is currently one of the largest festivals celebrating mixed heritage in the world.

Awards

On Sunday, June 4, 2017, Hapa-palooza was presented the exploreASIAN Community Recognition Award at the Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society's honourASIAN Gala, held at the

Museum of Vancouver The Museum of Vancouver (MOV) (formerly the Vancouver Museum and prior to that the Centennial Museum) is a civic history museum located in Vanier Park, Vancouver, British Columbia. The MOV is the largest civic museum in Canada and the oldest museum ...

. In 2014, the festival began hosting the Hip Hapa Hooray awards night. In 2015, recipients of the award included

Lawrence Hill Lawrence Hill (born January 24, 1957) is a Canadian novelist, essayist, and memoirist. He is known for his 2007 novel '' The Book of Negroes,'' inspired by the Black Loyalists given freedom and resettled in Nova Scotia by the British after the A ...

for Lifetime Achievement, Margaret Gallagher for Community Builder, and

Tamo Campos Tamo Campos is a professional snowboarder and noted environmentalist from British Columbia, Canada. He is the founder of the humanitarian group Beyond Boarding. In 2022, he directed the documentary film '' The Klabona Keepers'', about the Tahlt ...

for Youth Achievement. In 2016, they included Minelle Mahtani for Community Builder, Elder Larry Grant for Lifetime Achievement, and Director X for Innovator Award. In 2017, recipients included Joel Watanabe for the Trailblazer Award, Ann Marie Fleming for the Innovation Award, and

Wayde Compton Wayde Compton (born 1972) is a Canadian writer. He was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. Compton has published books of poetry, essays, and fiction, and he edited the first comprehensive anthology of black writing from British Columbia. He co ...

for the Community Builder Award.

References

Festivals in Vancouver {{Canada-festival-stub