WESTMINSTER : Little Saigon Will Celebrate Birthday

Two groups of businessmen are planning a festival to mark the official fourth birthday of Little Saigon.

The celebration on Tuesday, featuring food and entertainment from American and Vietnamese cultures, is being sponsored by the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce of Orange County and the Westminster Chamber of Commerce.

Tickets are $25 per person, and the event will begin with cocktails at 6:30, followed by dinner and entertainment at the Dynasty Restaurant in the Asian Garden Mall, 9200 Bolsa Ave. Reservations are required.

The theme is “Little Saigon . . . Progress Through Harmony,” and Westminster Chamber of Commerce President Brenda Franklin said cooperation in planning the event has been a major accomplishment.

“There is still a lot of weird feelings about the Vietnamese people living in Westminster,” Franklin said. “It’s not our intent as a group to combine organizations, it’s more to promote the business community of Westminster. So many people in Westminster and Orange County have never even been to Little Saigon.”

Organizers said the event should help foster understanding between the American and Vietnamese communities.

“We have to have an understanding and respect for each other,” Franklin said. “We shouldn’t have to expect them to become like us or us to become like them.”

Festivities on Tuesday night will include a Vietnamese fashion show and traditional folk dancing, as well as an American barbershop quartet, which will stroll among diners.

The keynote speaker will be Dennis F. Berg, a professor and coordinator of environmental studies at Cal State Fullerton.

Franklin said the two groups have been organizing the celebration since June and expect 300 to 350 people to attend.

The two chambers are also planning additional cooperative efforts, including the formation of a tourism committee that will expand tours of Little Saigon to include Westminster Mall and other points of interest, as well as a bilingual business resource committee designed to help people start businesses.

For reservations and ticket information, call the Westminster Chamber of Commerce at (714) 898-9648 or the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce at (714) 839-2257.