Children will be making cas-carones (party eggs) at the 16th Asian Festival Saturday, May 8, in the Salt Palace Assembly Hall. The festival begins at 11 a.m. and continues to 8 p.m. Eleven ethnic groups will offer food, dance, music and exhibits of their cultures.
At the festival, there will be rooster games and prizes, rooster dancing, an exhibit and art projects, including the making of cascarones.Cascarones (cas-cah-RONE-eez), Spanish for eggshells, are especially popular during Mexican fiestas. The multicolored confetti-filled bombs leave gay remnants of themselves wherever they land.
One written source says the broken eggshell symbolizes Christ's empty tomb, the confetti inside the joy of the resurrection. The origin of the party egg, however, has been traced back to China. From there, the practice of emptying eggshells and stuffing them probably traveled with Marco Polo to Italy, where, during the Renaissance, they were filled with perfumed talc.
The festival also features different drum performances.
Korean, Okinawan and Japanese drummers are scheduled for afternoon performances. The groups perform for their own enjoyment, but they also offer the audience a glimpse of a traditional ethnic folk art.
The Korean troupe uses various drums and percussion instruments that produce a varying sound and timbre. The group is composed of University of Utah students and faculty members.
The Okinawa Maidens are first- generation women who will perform a drum dance in kimonos they made.
The Taiko Drummers are 20 Ogden Buddhist Church youths who use similar large drums that produce syncopated and thunderous sight and sound.
Admission is $3 for adults and $1.50 for children and seniors.