ROYAL OAK, Mich., June 22, 2007 – The Detroit Zoo will celebrate Metro Detroit’s Asian community and culture at the Asian Festival on Saturday, June 30, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.  The event is part of Summer Festivals at the Detroit Zoo…Like Nowhere Else, presented by Comerica Charitable Foundation.  Festivities take place in the plaza east of the Ford Education Center and are free with the cost of Zoo admission.

The Asian Festival will feature Asian cuisine, a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, a lion dance demonstration presented by the Asian Martial Arts Studio of Ann Arbor, and a tae kwon do demonstration. There will also be animal enrichment activities with animals from the Asian culture, a community resource area, and arts and crafts.  The hands-on craft activities include Chinese lanterns, Japanese fans, peacocks and Chinese dragons.

The Summer Festivals at the Detroit Zoo celebrate the cultural diversity in the Metro Detroit community and are filled with activities such as live entertainment, storytelling, arts and crafts, and a community resource area.  The Zoo will also host festivals celebrating the Hispanic-Latino culture on July 28 and the African culture on August 25.

The Detroit Zoological Society is a non-profit organization that operates the Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle Nature Zoo.  Situated on 125 acres of naturalistic exhibits, the Detroit Zoo is located at the intersection of Ten Mile Road and Woodward Avenue, just off I-696, in Royal Oak.  The Detroit Zoo is open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April through October – with extended hours until 8 p.m. Wednesdays during July and August – and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. November through March.  Admission is $11.00 for adults 13 to 61, $9.00 for senior citizens 62 and older, and $7.00 for children ages 2 to 12; children under 2 are free.  For more information, call (248) 541-5717 or visit www.detroitzoo.org.  The Belle Isle Nature Zoo is open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April through October and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. November through March, and provides educational programming with interpretive staff support from the Huron-Clinton Metroparks.  For more information, call (313) 852-4056. 

###