ALTOONA, Iowa — Panda Fest is one of the country’s largest outdoor food festivals featuring over 200 Asian street foods, over 80 vendors, and lots of merchandise.
The festival began in New York in 2023, when founder Ang Zuo and his wife held a small street fair featuring Asian vendors. When his wife gave birth in 2024, she became fascinated with panda videos and relied on them for emotional support.
“She decided,” Zuo said, “‘Oh, maybe I can, I can do something for Panda.’ And at that time we were doing the food, the street fair about the food and the merchandise. Why, we, we cannot combine these elements together.”…