A music and arts festival celebrating Southeast Asian art and culture is debuting in Atlanta on May 20.
The Kamay Arts and Music Festival is a free one-day block party that will celebrate five Asian American artists and three DJs. The party will take place on May 20 at Underground Atlanta from 7-11 p.m.
Lillie Madali, who founded Kamay with her husband Theo Celeste, said the pair decided to start the festival because of the struggles that exist for Asian American creatives in the city.
“My husband and I founded Kamay because we’ve experienced the disparities that exist as Filipino-Americans and creatives in the Atlanta community,” Madali said in a statement. “Amidst the anti-Asian hate happening in communities across the country, we want Asian Americans to feel proud of living in Atlanta. We want Kamay to be a safe space for Asian artists to be celebrated and an incubator for Atlanta residents to learn more about being Southeast Asian in the South.”
Madali and Celeste, aka DJ Lillie Smalls and DJ Sofa King Evil, will be taking the stage alongside DJ Jay Envy. The artists at the event will be graphic designer Aldrin Banguilan, muralist and illustrator Leah Abucayan (or hellaLEAH), visual artist Sokai Yoon, illustrator and muralist Killamari, and a project called TOTO-O from creator/director Jalysa Leva.