The Orem Asian Festival is one of the newest community festivals in Utah County, and a welcome one. For a few hours on a spring Saturday, The Orchard at University Place fills with cultural booths, performances, crafts, food and exhibits celebrating the Asian cultures that are part of life in Utah Valley. It is free, it is family-friendly, and it is short enough to fit into an ordinary Saturday, which is exactly how a community festival should work.
It is also a small festival, and that is part of its charm. There is no ticket booth and no carnival. Instead there are tables of crafts, a performance area, food, and the kind of hands-on activities, from making dumplings to trying on a dragon costume, that children remember long after bigger events blur together.
This guide covers when the festival happens, who puts it on, what the first two years included, how to plan a visit, and where to find more Asian culture and food in Orem and Provo the rest of the year. The details come from University Place and the festival's organizers; where a year is named, it shows how the festival has run, not a promise about the next one.
When the Festival Happens
The Orem Asian Festival is held on a Saturday in May. In both of its first two years it fell on the Saturday before Mother's Day: May 10 in 2025 and May 9 in 2026. The organizers leaned into the timing in 2026, when one listing billed the festival as a way to celebrate Mom with culture, food and art.
May is also Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, which gives the timing a second meaning. The festival sits comfortably alongside the heritage-month events that schools, libraries and community groups hold across the country.
The hours have varied. In 2025 the festival ran through the afternoon and into the early evening; in 2026 it ran for three hours around midday, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The 2027 date had not been announced as of September 2026. If the Saturday-before-Mother's-Day pattern holds, it would fall on May 8, 2027, but check University Place's events page in the spring before you plan around it.
Where It Happens: The Orchard at University Place
The festival is held at The Orchard, the outdoor community space at University Place, the large shopping and office development at 575 East University Parkway in Orem. The Orchard was built as a gathering place, with lawns, walkways and a children's play area, and University Place has long pitched it as a kind of town square for Orem.
That setting shapes the festival. It is easy to reach, there is room to spread out, the play area gives small children somewhere to burn off energy, and the shops and restaurants of University Place are a few steps away. It also means the festival is easy to combine with an ordinary trip to University Place.
For more on the development itself, see our guide to University Place.
Who Puts It On
University Place hosts the festival in partnership with the Utah Chinese Association, a Utah community organization. The partnership pairs a venue that hosts free community events all year with an organization rooted in the community the festival celebrates.
In 2026 the festival also brought in exhibits from the Utah Chinese History Museum, which tell the story of Chinese immigrants in Utah. That addition gives the festival a thread of history alongside the performances and food, and it is one of the reasons the event feels like more than a street fair.
What the First Two Years Included
The first Orem Asian Festival, in 2025, was an afternoon of hands-on activities. University Place's listing described crafts, cultural and Asian food booths running through the day, a dumpling-making class, a chance for children to play with a dragon costume, cultural performances, Asian storytelling time and a sing-an-Asian-song contest with prizes.
The 2026 festival kept the same spirit in a shorter window. University Place described live performances, paper-cutting crafts, authentic cultural displays and food, together with the history exhibits from the Utah Chinese History Museum.
The pattern is clear enough to plan around. Expect performances, crafts, food and exhibits, with a strong emphasis on things children and families can do rather than just watch.
The Hands-On Side
The best part of the festival for many families is that it asks people to take part. Making a dumpling with your own hands teaches more about a food culture than eating one ever will. Cutting a paper design, a craft with a long history in Chinese folk art, is absorbing for children and adults alike. Trying on a dragon costume, even for a minute, is the sort of thing a small child talks about for weeks.
Those activities also make the festival a good introduction for families who have little contact with Asian cultures. There is no expectation of prior knowledge, the booths are set up for newcomers, and the atmosphere is relaxed. Ask questions; that is what the festival is for.
The Performances
Performances are the centerpiece of the festival's program. The organizers have described cultural performances and live music and dance, and in 2025 the program set aside a block of the afternoon for them, followed by storytelling and the singing contest.
Because the festival is short, the performances are too. Check the schedule when you arrive, and plan the rest of your visit around the performances you most want to see, since they happen at set times while the booths and crafts run continuously.
Performances are also the easiest part of the festival to share with children who are shy about the hands-on booths. Sit near the front a few minutes early so small children can see, and tell them a little about what they are about to watch; a dragon or a traditional dance means more to a child who knows it is part of a celebration with a long history. Clap generously, and if a performer invites the audience to join in, let the children try. Those are the moments families tend to remember, and they cost nothing but a little attention.
The History Thread
The Utah Chinese History Museum exhibits in 2026 brought a piece of Utah history to Orem that many residents have never heard. Chinese immigrants have been part of Utah's story since the nineteenth century, when Chinese workers on the Central Pacific Railroad helped build the western half of the first transcontinental railroad, completed at Promontory Summit in northern Utah in 1869.
That history is easy to overlook in Utah Valley, where the dominant local story is the pioneer settlement of the 1840s and 1850s. A festival that sets aside space for it gives families a chance to learn a part of the state's story that is often overlooked, and it connects today's Asian American community in Utah to a history that stretches back more than 150 years.
Food
Food is part of every cultural festival, and this one is no exception. The festival has featured Asian food booths alongside the performances and crafts, and the 2025 dumpling class turned food into an activity as well as a meal.
The festival's short window means food is best treated as part of the visit rather than a full meal plan. If the festival leaves you hungry for more, Orem and Provo have a deep bench of Asian restaurants, and our guides to the best Chinese and Asian food in Provo and Orem, the best pho and Vietnamese food, the best ramen and noodle shops and the best Asian and sushi restaurants in Utah Valley will point you to the favorites. For a local find, see our piece on Dumpling Bao, the Chinese kitchen hidden inside an Orem grocery store.
Planning a Visit
Because the festival lasts only a few hours, timing is everything. Arrive near the start if you want time to see everything without rushing, and check the schedule for the performances when you arrive. The crafts and classes may fill up, especially anything hands-on with limited materials, so do those first if your children have their hearts set on them.
Plan to spend an hour or two. That is enough to see a performance, do a craft or two, eat something and let the children play. If you want to make a day of it, add lunch at a restaurant in University Place or one of the Asian restaurants nearby, or combine the festival with other errands at the shopping center.
Making It a Learning Day for Children
The festival is short, but with a little preparation it can be one of the best learning days of a child's spring. Before you go, talk about what you might see: the dragon, the dumplings, the paper cutting, the music. A picture book about a Chinese or other Asian holiday, borrowed from the library, gives young children a story to connect to what they will see.
At the festival, let children lead. If one wants to spend the whole visit at the dumpling table, that is a better lesson than rushing through every booth. Encourage them to ask the people at the booths a question, even a simple one, and to say thank you. Afterward, talk about what they liked best, and consider cooking something together at home that they tried at the festival.
For older children, the history exhibits are the richer part. A child who learns that Chinese workers helped build the railroad that met in northern Utah has learned something about their own state that many adults do not know.
A Few Words on Etiquette
Cultural festivals are generous events, and a little courtesy goes a long way. Ask before photographing people up close, especially children and performers between sets; photographing a performance from the audience is usually welcome. Be patient at the craft and food tables, where volunteers are often teaching one person at a time. Try the food with an open mind, and if you do not know what something is, ask.
Above all, treat the festival as an invitation rather than a show put on for your benefit. The people behind it are sharing something they care about, and the best way to honor that is to engage with it.
Planning It by Age
Young children are the festival's natural audience. The crafts, the dragon costume, the storytelling and the performances all work for them, and the play area at The Orchard is right there when attention runs out.
Grade-schoolers will get the most from the hands-on activities, especially anything involving food, and many will want to try the singing contest if it returns.
Teenagers may find the performances and the history exhibits more interesting than they expect, and the festival is a good way to learn about the cultures of classmates and friends.
Adults will find the exhibits and the conversations at the booths the most rewarding part, along with the food, and the festival is a pleasant, low-key way to spend part of a spring Saturday.
Getting There and Parking
University Place is in central Orem on University Parkway, a short drive from I-15 and from Provo. The development has large parking areas that serve the shopping center, and The Orchard sits in the middle of it, so parking is rarely a problem for a festival of this size. UTA buses serve University Parkway, and the Utah Valley Express bus rapid transit line runs along it between Orem and Provo, which makes the festival reachable without a car.
Taking Part
The festival depends on community participation: performers, craft demonstrators, food vendors and volunteers. If you are part of a cultural group, a performance troupe or a business that wants to take part, the organizers are the people to contact, through University Place and the Utah Chinese Association. The festival's small scale makes it a welcoming place for groups that are new to performing or presenting.
For everyone else, taking part means showing up, trying the crafts, asking questions and buying something from the vendors. A young festival grows when people come.
How It Fits the Orem Calendar
The Orem Asian Festival is part of a larger program of free community events at The Orchard. University Place hosts events there through the year, from summer concerts and a STEM festival to Oremfest's Orchard's Jam and the holiday lighting of The Orchard in November. The Asian festival is one of the first of the season.
Across the county, it adds something the calendar had been missing. Most of Utah County's festivals are city celebrations built around parades, rodeos and fireworks, and cultural festivals are fewer. The full calendar lives on our festivals hub, and the festival and celebration finder filters it by month and city. For more to do in Orem through the year, see our guide to things to do in Orem.
Why a Festival Like This Matters
Utah Valley is more diverse than its reputation, and it is growing more so. Students from across Asia come to study at Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University, families move to the valley for work in the tech industry, and the valley's restaurants, churches and community groups reflect that change. A festival that invites everyone to learn about and celebrate those cultures, in a public space, at no cost, is a small but real step toward a community that knows itself better.
It is also simply a good Saturday. The best cultural festivals are the ones where people come for the food or the performances and leave having learned something, and the Orem Asian Festival is built to work that way.
Pairing It With Mother's Day Weekend
Because the festival has fallen on the Saturday before Mother's Day, it fits neatly into a weekend of family plans. A paper-cutting craft or a handmade piece from the festival makes a thoughtful small gift from a child. The restaurants at University Place and the Asian restaurants nearby make an easy lunch after the festival, and a family that wants a quieter celebration on Sunday can treat Saturday as the outing.
If Mother's Day weekend is already crowded, the festival's short hours help: it takes a morning or an early afternoon, not the whole day.
What to Bring
Pack light. Bring cash as well as cards for food vendors and craft tables, since smaller vendors do not always take cards. Bring sunscreen and hats for a sunny May day, water bottles, and a light layer, because spring weather in Utah County can turn quickly. A small bag for crafts and anything children make is useful, and a stroller helps with small children, since University Place is a large site to walk.
Asian Culture in Utah Valley the Rest of the Year
The festival is one day, but Asian cultures are part of Utah Valley all year. The valley's Asian restaurants are the easiest way in, and the food guides linked above cover the best of them, from noodle shops to dumpling counters. Asian grocery stores in Orem and Provo carry ingredients that are hard to find elsewhere, and browsing one is an adventure in itself for children.
The valley's universities add more. Brigham Young University and Utah Valley University both have international students from across Asia, and campus cultural groups often hold performances and celebrations, especially around Lunar New Year, that are open to the public. Watch university event calendars in the winter and spring.
A Few Practical Tips
Check University Place's events page in April for the date and hours, since the festival is short and the hours have changed from year to year. Arrive near the start. Bring cash as well as cards for food vendors and craft booths, sunscreen for a sunny May morning, and a light layer in case the weather turns, since spring in Utah County can swing from warm to chilly. And bring your curiosity: the people behind the booths are there to share.
The Short Version
The Orem Asian Festival is a free spring celebration of Asian cultures at The Orchard at University Place in Orem, hosted with the Utah Chinese Association. It has fallen on the Saturday before Mother's Day in May, lasts a few hours, and features performances, hands-on crafts, food and history exhibits. It is small, welcoming and ideal for families, and it adds a cultural festival to a county calendar dominated by city celebrations.
Related Guides
- University Place: The Complete Guide
- Things to Do in Orem
- Best Chinese and Asian Food in Provo and Orem
- Best Pho and Vietnamese Food in Provo and Orem
- Festivals and Celebrations in Utah County
- Festival and Celebration Finder
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