This month, hundreds of thousands of people from near and far will descend on Seattle for the World Cup. Perhaps, on the way to a match, they’ll drive on I-5 into the Stadium District, unaware of the stretch of freeway running over the Chinatown International District (CID) — a 1960s construction that displaced countless residents, splitting the neighborhood in half and changing it forever.
But near that freeway, as unknowing sports fans pass overhead, the streets will come alive with a massive festival unlike any the CID has seen before. For the first time ever, JamFest and the CID Block Party — two popular recurring CID events — will join forces to host the CID Summer Kickoff.
“As we’re going into the World Cup and this uncertainty of [not knowing] what’s going to happen … ultimately, at its core, the Summer Kickoff needs to be for the residents here,” said Tuyen Than, one of the founders of the CID Block Party and the executive director of the Chinatown International District Business Improvement Area (CIDBIA). “That’s the primary objective.”
Taking place Thursday, June 18 from 3 to 9 p.m., the Summer Kickoff will feature cultural performances, music artists, dances, magic shows, cabarets, food from local establishments and more around King Street, Hing Hay Park, businesses and other public spaces throughout the neighborhood. It will be “a massive day of food, music, culture, and community,” the website says.
While the Summer Kickoff is new, its spirit is familiar. The CID Block Party and the Wing Luke Museum’s JamFest are established traditions in the neighborhood, usually taking place in the summer.
Than was fresh out of college when she and a group of friends started the API Food Fight Club in 2016, hosting monthly public safety meetings, “cash mobs” where they’d go spend money at local businesses, and a Thank You Donnie Chin barbecue to honor the late public safety activist.
Eventually, that evolved into the first CID Block Party in 2016.
“The inspiration was wanting to figure out how to make a positive impact in our own unique way,” Than said.
One of the ways they decided they could make a positive impact was by platforming local AANHPI artists.
“The early years of the Block Party, we were walking through one of the festivals in the CID, and we were thinking about how we knew so many talented people who were doing music, and that there wasn’t a space for API artists that were in the community, in the CID,” Than said. “So we were trying to figure out, could we organize our own API-specific events where we curate the lineup and showcase and pay these artists, as well as fly artists in from out of state so that they can network.”
While the first Block Party brought in 200 attendees and performers like Awkwafina and local musical artist Hollis, Than admitted she and her friends “didn’t know what we were doing.” They realized they missed some details, like forgetting to install porta potties and printing posters with not-quite-accurate translations.
“I’m a first generation American … and at that point, I hadn’t even organized my own birthday party, but I was like, ‘Yeah, I can organize this festival,’” Than said with a laugh. “[The Block Party] ended and we were like, ‘Let’s never do that again.’”
But after Than and her partner Ryan Catabay founded their creative studio, DRGDROP Creative, they brought back the Block Party in 2019, and again in 2022, 2023 and 2024. The event has grown every year since. And this year, Than said she anticipates the Summer Kickoff will bring in just under 1,000 attendees.
The Block Party usually takes place under that I-5 overpass — a choice that might seem strange at first, but in reality is both practical and incredibly significant. It’s practical, because, as Than said, it’s important to minimize neighborhood disruption and keep in mind the residents and businesses. And it’s significant because of the 1960s displacement caused by the construction of the freeway. Hosting this major AANHPI-focused event in that very spot is a powerful act of reclamation.
“When it was built, it displaced and destroyed about over 200 businesses and split the community in half,” Than said. “For us, we really saw it as an opportunity to use this space, to rethink this space, as not just, like, a community parking lot, but a community space where we can connect Little Saigon to the Chinatown core.”
This year, due to the influx of World Cup visitors, they moved activities from underneath the freeway and onto King Street between Maynard Avenue and Eighth Avenue, and JamFest will fill in the alleys, Than said.
“Because it’s a combined event and we’re joining forces, we’re gonna call it the CID Summer Kickoff, as like a nod to soccer because it’s kicking, and then also kind of a nod to kicking off the summer because it’s near the summer solstice,” Than said.
While the Summer Kickoff will feature many of the usual festivities offered by the Block Party and JamFest, the organizers are adding something unique this year: they’ll attempt to break the official Guinness world record for the largest dim sum gathering. Australia currently holds the record at 764, and the U.S. men’s soccer team plays Australia in Seattle the very next day.
“We’ll source the dim sums from restaurants nearby, and it’ll be an opportunity to beat Australia twice,” Than said.
Performances and food brought in by the Block Party will combine with those brought in by JamFest, the Wing Luke Museum’s annual summer block party featuring live musical performances highlighting AANHPI artists and family friendly activities. Local burlesque performer Shanghai Pearl is a JamFest staple, with cabaret sets that have featured aerialists, magicians and hypnotists.
“We really try to be an event that is from the community and for the community,” said Jintana Lityouvong, the museum’s community program manager. “We want all of our neighbors — that includes the little kids that live here and the seniors that live in the apartments around here — to come out, and they do.”
JamFest also always involves the Sun May Company, the gift shop in Canton Alley next to the museum. For decades, Sun May was run by activist Donnie Chin. His sister took over the shop and keeps it open during the event, hosting activities in the alley like the rickshaw race game — a race on a giant board that involves little toy rickshaws sold at Sun May.
“We like to call that little alley ‘Donnie Chin’s Carnival,’ which is an homage to him,” Lityouvong said. “Donnie never had children himself, but he loved children. He really wanted to host them and bring fun activities for them in the neighborhood.”
For Lityouvong, this year’s collaboration between JamFest and the Block Party marks something new for a neighborhood full of longtime partners.
“Me and my colleagues here realized the other day that while our neighborhood has been always a big, tight-knit ecosystem of different organizations who run a lot of different events with different purposes and crowds here … this is really the first type of program or event where something of this size and magnitude has taken place, and it’s really exciting,” Lityouvong said.
The partnership is timely.
“The World Cup makes us all a little anxious, but it kind of is the big reason why this event is happening in the first place,” Lityouvong said. “While our main priority has always been to cater to our community that’s already here, it has been interesting and different to think about how this will be catering to possibly a lot of international tourists and visitors and people just from outside of Seattle.”
The Summer Kickoff is also a way to bring business to the CID.
“We know a lot more people are gonna be in Seattle around that time, especially those very few days that our event is taking place,” Lityouvong said.
Than said that keeping people in the neighborhood longer means they spend more money — not just at event booths, but at the businesses that line the surrounding blocks. She said that when people are funneled toward the freeway area, they’re drawn past restaurants and shops that they might not otherwise visit.
“The longer you keep people here in the neighborhood because there’s activities, the more they spend money,” Than said.
The strategy extends beyond that single evening. They’re launching a stamp book promotion featuring around 60 neighborhood businesses, with prizes for participants. It’s intended to keep folks coming back to the CID throughout the World Cup period, not just June 18.
“We wanted to take advantage of that and really show people from around the world, people from all over, what the Chinatown International District has to offer,” Lityouvong said.
Drawing attention to the CID sometimes also means navigating how the neighborhood is viewed from the outside. The area struggles with perceptions of crime and safety — a narrative that Than has learned to hold alongside her work, rather than let it define the celebration.
She recounted receiving a comment on the Block Party’s Instagram one year where a user called the event the “CID Glock Party” because of the shootings in the area.
“It was kind of funny, but it was also like, okay, this is something that we’re always going to face,” Than said. “We’ve always had challenges of perceptions of safety.”
But those perceptions aren’t Than’s focus.
“I try not to think about it too much, because ultimately, this event is for the residents here,” Than said. “It’s so important to come together and celebrate that joy, because there is a narrative that [this community] needs saving and that we’re so resilient and that we’re always fighting. … So having those moments of joy and not having to fight all the time, and just to recognize a common interest over music and coming together and having this shared memory is a really beautiful thing.”
Several organizations are supporting the CID Summer Kickoff, including The Asian American Foundation, SCIDpda and the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture.
Much of the funding, Lityouvong said, is itself a product of the World Cup happening in the city. While no money comes directly from FIFA, the tournament has made funders and sponsors more eager to support neighborhood activations.
“To be frank, a lot of our funding came from wanting to activate the city during the time period that FIFA is here,” Lityouvong said. “A lot of different funders and sponsors also want to show off Seattle and capitalize off of all the people that may be coming in during this time.”
Otts Bolisay, the Office of Arts & Culture’s communications director, said they’ve supported JamFest off and on for more than 15 years. While the office supports citywide arts experiences year-round, their goal during the World Cup is to “drive equitable economic and community impact—activating neighborhoods across Seattle, not just Downtown, so local artists, businesses, and cultural communities benefit from increased visitors,” Bolisay said in an email to the International Examiner.
“We’re supporting events … in and around the stadium areas, including Pioneer Square and CID to ensure local businesses and organizations benefit from more foot traffic and neighborhood pride,” Bolisay continued.
Though the Summer Kickoff is a single day, Than hopes the feeling people get from attending will carry them throughout the rest of the year.
“I would love for people to have a stronger connection with this community and to have a shared memory — that we all came together…and to understand that it is a moment that nobody can take away from you,” she said.
For more information, visit cidsummer.com
