Des Moines’ Panda Fest Continues Today With Asian Street Food, Cultural Performances and Family Activities
Altoona’s outlet mall traded its usual weekend foot traffic for something considerably louder and more fragrant this weekend, as Panda Fest makes its first-ever Iowa stop at the Outlets of Des Moines.
The festival opened Friday evening and hits its biggest day today, Saturday, October 3, with a full day of programming at the Outlets of Des Moines before wrapping up tomorrow, Sunday, October 4.
What’s Happening Today
According to Panda Fest’s official event page, the festival brings more than 80 Asian food vendors and over 200 street food options to the Des Moines metro, along with roughly 20 to 30 merchandise vendors selling panda-themed goods. The event bills itself as one of the largest outdoor Asian food festivals in the country, and this weekend marks its first appearance anywhere in Iowa.
Today is the longest day on the schedule. Per the Outlets of Des Moines’ listing, Saturday runs a full 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. in Lot C, giving visitors the widest window of the weekend to make it out. Sunday closes things out with a shorter 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. stretch. Parking at the outlet mall is free, which removes one of the usual headaches that comes with a festival-sized crowd descending on a retail center.
The Food Is the Main Event
With 200-plus street food options on offer, the sheer scale of Panda Fest’s menu is clearly the draw. Panda Fest’s own materials describe an “extensive lineup of food stalls and trucks serving iconic dishes and hidden gems” pulled from across China, Japan, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam, ranging from steaming dumplings and sushi rolls to spicier regional street food and dessert options.
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Local coverage shows how central food is to the weekend. In its roundup of things to do in the metro this weekend, Axios Des Moines described PandaFest as a three-day Asian food and culture festival built around street food, cultural performances, and panda-themed activities, with general admission tickets priced at $18.
Worth noting for anyone heading over today: the ticket price covers entry, access to vendors, shopping and performances, but not the food or drinks themselves, which are purchased separately once inside.
More Than Just Food
Beyond the vendor stalls, Panda Fest leans hard into live entertainment and cultural programming today. According to the festival’s own description, this weekend’s performances include lion dance shows alongside K-pop and Thai dance routines, paired with live demonstrations of traditional crafts like sugar painting and paper cutting.
The event also has a distinctly playful, family-oriented side that goes beyond eating and watching performances. Panda Fest’s Iowa listing promises a large inflatable panda, a panda-themed bounce house, panda dough figurine making, and panda face painting, the kind of hands-on activities clearly built with younger attendees in mind. Every general admission ticket also includes two small gifts: a customized panda pin featuring an Iowa design and a headband, according to the festival’s ticketing details.
Why Altoona, and Why Now
Panda Fest isn’t a one-city operation. The festival already runs similar weekend events in cities across the country, including Pittsburgh, Savannah and the Twin Cities, following a fairly consistent format of food vendors, performances and panda-branded extras wherever it lands. Iowa’s edition, hosted specifically at the Outlets of Des Moines in Altoona, marks the brand’s first time setting up anywhere in the state.
For the shopping center itself, hosting a three-day food and culture festival is a notable departure from its usual retail rhythm, and a clear bet that pairing an outlet mall’s parking lot with a packed vendor lineup can draw a crowd well beyond typical weekend shoppers. For the Greater Des Moines region more broadly, it adds a sizable new cultural event to the fall calendar, one built almost entirely around trying new food rather than any single headlining attraction.
What to Expect if You’re Heading Over Today
With today running the longest hours of the weekend, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., it’s also likely to be the busiest. Arriving earlier in the day offers the best shot at shorter lines before the dinner-hour crowd builds. If you miss today’s window, Sunday’s shorter 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. stretch is your last chance before the festival wraps up and moves on to its next city.
No matter when you arrive, the appeal is straightforward. Few events in the Des Moines area offer this much variety in one place: a chance to sample dumplings, sushi, regional street food and desserts, catch a lion dance performance, and walk away with a free panda pin, all without leaving Altoona.
