A cultural and art group from Cambodia demonstrate their traditional costumes at the first Asian Cultural Festival in Glendale, Arizona, the United States, Nov. 4, 2023. The first two-day Asian Cultural Festival in the U.S. state of Arizona opened Saturday in Glendale, a city 15 km northwest of the state capital Phoenix.(Photo by Sui Xuguang/Xinhua)

The first two-day Asian Cultural Festival in the U.S. state of Arizona opened Saturday in Glendale, a city 15 km northwest of the state capital Phoenix.

People originating from more than a dozen countries and regions in Asia and the state of Hawaii presented a wonderful cultural feast composed of music, dance, traditional costume performances and food to thousands of local residents.

Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers said at the opening ceremony that the United States is a country of immigrants, and the Phoenix metropolis has a very diverse population with immigrants from all over the world.

"Culture is diverse, equal and inclusive," he said. "We hope to promote cultural exchanges between different regions by holding the Asian Cultural Festival. This is the original intention of our Asian Cultural Festival."

The mayor announced that the Asian Cultural Festival would be held every year in the future.

According to the most recent American Community Survey, the Asian population in Arizona reached 226,597 in 2021, accounting for 3.2 percent of the total population of the Grand Canyon State.

Glendale is one of the top 10 Arizona cities with the largest Asian population. In the city with about 250,000 residents, the number of Asians is over 10,000, some 4.19 percent of the total population.

Asian residents grew by 25.5 percent in the city since 2010. 

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