Articles

Home /Discover, watch, listen /Articles /Plaza Pass and AAPI Heritage Month

Plaza Pass and AAPI Heritage Month

As we celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month at the Center, we’re thrilled to plan events to connect with our community and celebrate Orange County’s growing AAPI population of over 800,000 residents. Our stacked lineup of events highlights local artists, showcase Asian American art, and bring engaging events that audiences of all ages and abilities can enjoy

AAPI Heritage Month Events:

Film screening: Past Lives

May 3, 2024

We're celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May with a multi-week lineup featuring dance, music, film and more. Join us for a screening of Past Lives, preceded by a festive evening of music, food trucks, and free activities for all!

Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends, are wrest apart after Nora’s family emigrates from South Korea. Two decades later, they are reunited in New York for one fateful week as they confront notions of destiny, love, and the choices that make a life, in this heartrending modern romance.

FREE with Plaza Pass

Tuesday Night Dance: Polynesian with Tupua Productions

May 7, 14, 21 & 28, 2024

Enjoy new steps, new friends, and live drums at this free weekly Polynesian dance class! Tuesday Night Dance is fun, upbeat, and designed for all ages and abilities—all are welcome, no dance experience required.

FREE with Plaza Pass

Film screening: Funny Money

May 10, 2024

We're celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May with a multi-week lineup featuring dance, music, film and more. Join us for a screening of Funny Money, preceded by a festive evening of music, food trucks, and free activities for all!

In this slapstick comedy and winner of Viet Film Fest's Best Feature, the stressed-out manager of a company in Saigon that manufactures "ghost money" for funerals finds himself in possession of a torn bill that he cannot get rid of due to superstition around accepting or exchanging worn bills. After passing the bill off to an unsuspecting young woman seeking good fortune at a temple, a series of mishaps befall them both, entangling the two characters in a series of hilarious encounters as they attempt to escape their bad karma.

FREE with Plaza Pass

Film screening: Moana

May 24, 2024

We're celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month in May with a multi-week lineup featuring dance, music, film and more. Join us for a fun family movie night, preceded by a festive evening of music, food trucks, and free activities for all!

From Walt Disney Animation Studios comes Moana, an epic adventure about a spirited teen who sets sail on a daring mission to prove herself a master wayfinder and fulfill her ancestors’ unfinished quest. During her journey, Moana (Auli‘i Cravalho) meets the mighty demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson), and together they cross the ocean on a fun-filled, action-packed voyage, encountering enormous sea creatures, breathtaking underworlds and impossible odds.

FREE with Plaza Pass

Film Screening & Concert: Black Anime Music & Japanese Jazz

Anime Night & Concert: South Side Symphony & Kids on the Slope

May 31, 2024

On May 31, join us for a for an evening that will be part screening, part concert, part party, and part lecture exploring the connections between Black music and Japanese jazz!

FREE with Plaza Pass

With Plaza Pass, you can unlock our incredible lineup of AAPI Heritage Month events including movie nights, Tuesday Night Dance classes, and a concert from South Side Symphony & Kids on the Slope! There’s so much to do at the Center this May, and one pass gets you access to all of it.

Plaza Pass is a free digital pass for individuals over 18 years old to add to their Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, granting them access to free events on the Plaza. There are no additional tickets required—just show up, present your Plaza Pass to an usher at the entrance, and they will scan you in! Instead of individually RSVPing for events happening on the Julianne and George Argyros Plaza and managing individual tickets to events, we’ve streamlined a way to get quick access into all your outdoor favorites.

Enjoy free concerts, dance classes and cultural festivals year-round with our newest rollout!

For more details on Plaza Pass and what to do after registering, click here.

Upcoming events:

Tuesday Night Dance: Broadway

June 4–25, 2024

In June, fan favorite instructor Lauren Lim Jackson returns to lead our popular series of Broadway dance classes. Learn choreography from a different show every week, from “MJ” to “The Wiz” as we explore Black Broadway! Tuesday Night Dance is fun, upbeat, and designed for all ages and abilities—all are welcome, no dance experience required.

Free event

Summer Sounds: Boogaloo Assassins

June 7, 2024

Join us this June and July for our FREE all-ages Summer Sounds concert series on the Julianne and George Argyros Plaza! This Friday we feature 12-piece Latin Soul orquesta, Boogaloo Assassins!

Free event

Summer Sounds: J Boykin & Friends

June 14, 2024

Join us this June and July for our FREE all-ages Summer Sounds concert series on the Julianne and George Argyros Plaza! This Friday we feature powerhouse saxophonist, J Boykin & Friends as they bring jazz, blues, and funk hits all night long!

Free event

Summer Sounds: V.C.R. ft. Soulquest

June 21, 2024

Join us this June and July for our FREE all-ages Summer Sounds concert series on the Julianne and George Argyros Plaza! This Friday we feature multidisciplinary soul-singer V.C.R ft. Soulquest with Ill Camille, Iman Europe & Swarvy.

Free event

Summer Sounds: Undecided Future

July 12, 2024

Join us this June and July for our FREE all-ages Summer Sounds concert series on the Julianne and George Argyros Plaza! This Friday we feature revolutionary pop-soul group, Undecided Future!

Free event

Summer Sounds: Maria Sanchez

July 19, 2024

Join us this June and July for our FREE all-ages Summer Sounds concert series on the Julianne and George Argyros Plaza! This Friday we feature Chicana soul artist, Maria Sanchez. Her sound perfectly encapsulates “That Soulful Love Type of Music” with a blend of her favorite genres: oldies, soul, and funk.

Free event

Summer Sounds: Tropa Magica

July 26, 2024

Join us this June and July for our FREE all-ages Summer Sounds concert series on the Julianne and George Argyros Plaza! This Friday we feature psychedelic cumbia rock band, Tropa Magica!

Free event