Protests, immigration concerns in L.A. foil Southeast Asian ‘Coachella’

This weekend, 12-acre Gloria Molina Grand Park, “the park for everyone” in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, was supposed to host the third installation of Sabaidee Fest.

The annual Southeast Asian cultural entertainment festival, the first of its kind in the U.S. and a draw for people from the Bay Area and beyond, features global and diasporic pop musicians, traditional performers, civil society organizations, thought leaders and entrepreneurs representing Lao, Vietnamese, Cambodian, Hmong, Mien, Khmu, Thai Dam and other communities.

But amid intense, prolonged civil unrest protesting the Trump administration’s treatment of immigrants in L.A., the organizers indefinitely postponed the event.

“This decision was made out of deep care and responsibility for the safety of our artists, team and community—especially those who may be directly impacted or feel vulnerable in this environment,” organizers posted on Facebook. “At the heart of our festival is a commitment to creating safe, inclusive and joyful spaces where everyone feels free to express themselves without fear.”

George Gonzalez, the venue’s director, said the festival backed out of its plans after the park called off its own Fourth of July celebration after consultation with public safety officers because the park’s proximity to government buildings made it a hot spot for the protests against U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that erupted in early June.

Sabaidee Fest did not reply to multiple requests for comment from this news organization but ticket holders’ debates about safety concerns surrounding the event allude to the historic vulnerability of Southeast Asian communities in the U.S. to the escalating detainment and deportation of immigrants and refugees that has ramped up under President Donald Trump. Visa issues may have also played a role in delaying the event. Myanmar and Laos were listed in Trump’s travel ban on 19 countries effective June 9, though Sabaidee Fest issued an announcement days before the postponement saying it would not affect artists.

Crestfallen fans have begun demanding refunds for hundreds of dollars in ticket purchases to defray irrecoverable travel and lodging costs.

Entrepreneur Salong Namsa, who came to the U.S. as a Lao child refugee via Thailand at age 5, first launched the inaugural event in March 2023 in Riverside County with Lao, Hmong and Thai artists. Last year’s edition, held in June in Chino, introduced a Cambodian lineup powered by Baramey Production, an entertainment company whose artists, such as rapper VannDa and singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Vanthan, have wielded enough global popularity to attract a first-ever Cambodian partnership with Warner Music Group in 2021.

This year’s lineup in L.A. was to highlight the U.S. debuts of Vietnamese dancer-turned-rapper Low G (Nguyen Hoang Long) and Hanoi-based hip-hop/R&B artist TLINH (Nguyen Thao Linh), who have collaborated before.

The fest was especially significant this year — the 50th anniversary of resettlement in the U.S. by refugees emanating from the Vietnam War, the Secret War in Laos and the Khmer Rouge genocide in Cambodia that attempted to eradicate artists, intellectuals and cultural bearers from society.

Gloria Molina Grand Park has continued to host other planned events large and small without incident.

“We thought this would be a good opportunity to leverage our space for a festival of this size for a Southeast Asian community that is pretty large here in Los Angeles,” said Gonzalez, expressing the park’s disappointment in how current affairs unraveled plans.

“The park is a gathering place for people to express their First Amendment rights and it’s been that way for years. Relative to what’s going on, it’s pretty safe. Things can also go in a different direction at any moment,” he said.

Gonzalez is unaware of any plans Sabaidee Fest has to reschedule the event at the park but said they have 18 months to do so.

For now, the festival is focused on spinoff concerts in destinations across the country with notable Southeast Asian populations, providing rare opportunities for cultural exchange between outrageously popular and globally known artists from Southeast Asia and rising diasporic artists from underrepresented communities in the U.S.

Heartbreaka (Lao American rapper Brandon Nambounmy) will appear in Visalia alongside the U.S. debut of Vietnam-based Hmong singer/songwriter NT One in Visalia, in the San Joaquin Valley, on Sunday, July 13, and in Sacramento on July 17. On July 19, Baramey Production will host an intimate, unplugged sold-out performance by its Cambodian artists at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco.

L.A. ticket holders can apply their unfulfilled tickets fees to any of these events.

But perhaps those left most in the lurch are traditional performers and nonprofit organizations that won’t be on these stages. Sinath Thi, on the steering committee of the Oakland Khmer Angkor Dance Troupe, said, “We would be very sad, heartbroken, disappointed and drained to have practiced so much and not be able to perform and to showcase the dances.”

Members of the troupe had traveled to Oakland from as far as Bakersfield to rehearse for their premiere at the fest. These practices have halted until further notice.

Dance instructor Sharlie Sun added, “For many of our youth, this was more than just a performance–it was finally an opportunity to be seen on a larger stage, in front of a wider audience, and across social media platforms that would amplify their voices and visibility.”