Qeej and Hmong Arts Festival

The annual Qeej and Hmong Arts Festival is a unique public event held in St. Paul intended to promote greater public knowledge and recognition in Minnesota of the Hmong Qeej instrument, its role in Hmong culture as well as other Hmong art forms including traditional musical instruments and different types of Hmong dance. The Legacy grant will help the Hmong Cultural Center over the next 2 years expand the Qeej and Hmong Arts Festival to include more musicians, dancers and other performers and reach a wider audience with programming related to the Hmong folk arts heritage through increased marketing efforts. The Qeej and Hmong Arts Festival is a key program at Hmong Cultural Center that helps educate the public about the historical, cultural and folk arts heritage of Hmong Minnesotans. The event which started in 2022 is the only Hmong arts festival in Minnesota and features performances of the Qeej instrument, other Hmong musical instruments and Hmong dance groups. Importantly, Legacy grant funds will also help the center increase its marketing of the festival to the Twin Cities community through flyers, social media, Hmong radio and other local media outlets.