It’s Pandamonium as Panda Fest Hits Seattle
One of the country’s largest Asian cuisine events comes to Seattle this weekend
By Chris S. Nishiwaki June 4, 2025
The FX television show The Bear on HULU, a dramedy revolving around life as a restaurateur, will release its fourth season at the end of June. In the meantime, a different bear will make a splash in Seattle this weekend.
Panda Fest, one of the largest Asian food festivals in the country, is coming to Seattle for the first time from June 6-8 at Seattle Center Fisher Pavilion. The weekend-long festivities will feature more than 70 food vendors and more than 15 merchandise booths and live performers.
Panda Fest Seattle is on its fourth stop of a five-city tour with more destinations to come. Previous stops were in Atlanta, Philadelphia and Boston. The festival is coming to Minneapolis in July.
The Panda Fest tour was born out of Dragon Fest in New York, founded by Biubiu Xu in 2024. Dragon Fest was created to celebrate Chinese culture. Panda Fest has expanded to promote pan Asian culture. Many of the featured food vendors are from Florida and New York, where Xu is currently based.
Timed-entry tickets are available for Friday, June 6 (4 p.m. to 10 p.m.), Saturday, June 7 (10 a.m. to 10 p.m.) and Sunday, June 8 (10 a.m. to 8 p.m.) General admission and VIP tickets are $17.87 and $40.08, respectively. VIP guests will have access to private areas, special bars and bathrooms. Cost for food and drinks is additional and range between $8 and $25, according to organizers. A whole grilled squid on a stick for $25 has been a popular item at previous Panda Fest stops.
Mr. Okonomiyaki will serve its namesake dish, a traditional Japanese savory pancake made with wheat flour, cabbage and scallions. Dumpling King from New York will serve five types of dumplings (beef, chicken, pork, shrimp, vegetarian) in their iconic colorful shells. Karl’s Balls, also from New York, will serve its seminal and signature Takoyaki — traditional Japanese flour balls usually served with octopus.
For traditional Sichuan noodles, All Dat Dumpling is preparing its spicy Dan Dan Noodles with its signature sauce.
Another New York vendor, East Village confectionary Hello, Yam!, will feature its famous sweet potato dish that promotes heart health and is low on the glycemic index. For more desserts, the traditional fruit coated in sugar dessert snack on a stick — Tanghulu, made by Chan Bai Mei — finishes with a mouth-watering tang that keeps guests with a sweet tooth craving more.
New York-based Soft Bite made soufflé pancakes famous in the United States (or, is it the other way around?) and will be available at Panda Fest. Similar pancakes are available year-round at Setsuko Pastry in Phinney Ridge or Hiroki in Wallingford.
For a more local flavor, Sumner- based Mila will serve a variety of dumplings. If you can’t make it to Panda Fest, a variety of Mila’s dumplings are available to order online or at select Metropolitan Markets, QFC, Fred Meyer, Whole Foods, Safeway and Town & Country Ballard.
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