Farewell to summer, Asian style at Elgin's Festival Park

It was three red beans, four small black beans and 10 Cheerios to glory.

And Estelle Cuevas of Elgin got them all into a plastic cup before anyone else.

"That was really fun and I love Asian food," she said after winning the first chopstick contest at the second annual Asian Fest at Elgin's Festival Park.

The Saturday afternoon festival offered people a chance to sample Asian food, hear some music and enjoy a relatively warm day as another summer said goodbye.

Jayo Rasavongxay, chair of the Lao-American Organization of Elgin, views the festival as an opportunity for his group to show what services it can provide to the estimated 4,000 to 5,000 Laotians living in the Elgin area.

The festival also gave Baysone and Lammone Phetthongsy, budding entrepreneurs and brothers from Huntley, a chance to show and sell new T-shirt designs from their company, LAOwear.

LAO stands for Loose Authentik Outfitters.

"We're trying to come up with a new brand name using the Laotian culture and designs for now," Baysone Phetthongsy said.

Part of their proceeds were donated to the Asian Community Network, which helped organize the festival.

But Hugo Prospero of Elgin, who came with his wife, Ratsamy and their son, Raymond, 10, said he wished there were more food and craft vendors this year.

Hugo Prospero said he was a "little bit disappointed" but didn't want to blame organizers because the economy also could have impacted the festival turnout and participation.