ARC World could also be a celebration of Asian culture, but organizer Clement Chu hopes that folks from all backgrounds come and revel in the one-day festival in downtown Toronto.
Food, shops, music and speakers will all be featured at Toronto Metropolitan University’s Kerr Hall on Saturday, with a celeb basketball game including actor Simu Liu and former Toronto Raptors star Jeremy Lin the day’s finale. Chu said that there will probably be something for everybody, whether or not they have ties to Asia or not.
“The stories that a few of these persons are telling here, it’s not only necessarily about them being Asian however it’s a story of resilience,” he said in a recent phone interview. “These are stories that apply way beyond, the Asian community so we hope people get that out of it.
“We hope people come benefit from the things that come from our culture, whether it’s food or art or entertainment. Greater than the rest, we would like to get young people out and volunteering and making contributions back to the community, because we feel numerous that was lost during COVID.”
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Originally named the Chinese Canadian Youth Athletic Association, the Asian Roots Collective was founded 30 years ago by Chu and his friends to create a protected space to play basketball. Chu said that over time the organization’s mission has broadened to incorporate individuals with connections to all of Asia and to encompass other “universal languages” that, like basketball, can bring people together even when there are other linguistic or cultural barriers.
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“We would like to showcase all these items which can be excellent, which can be happening,” said Chu. “So we decided to alter the direction of the organization a bit bit, because we’re now not just Chinese, we’re now not just youth oriented programs, and we’re sure as heck not only athletics.
“We desired to have a calling card that was more representative of what we’re doing. This yr is the primary yr we’re launching ARC World, which is that this convention where we’re celebrating all things Asian.”
The acronym ARC still reflects those roots in basketball, nonetheless.
“Because we come from basketball, (the name) is just like the three-point arc, your shot arc, but we’re attempting to tell a story now so this can be a narrative arc,” said Chu. “That was the inspiration behind the name of the organization.”
ARC has come a good distance because it was founded in 1995, the identical yr the Raptors began playing in Toronto. Back then, Chu and other leaders throughout the organization needed to rent basketball courts at local high schools. Now they’ve their very own athletic centre in Markham, Ont.
“We used to make that joke about, ‘oh, , sooner or later, versus renting schools, we’d like to have the keys to gym,’ because that’s the dream of each kid, to have the keys to gym so you might shoot around,” he said. “It’s just funny because, like, fast forward, 30 years later, through a few of these initiatives, we were in a position to raise enough money to construct our own mini-community centre with a basketball hoop and stuff, but so now we do have the keys to the gym which is pretty, pretty cool.
“The one downside is, I’m so old now that I can’t really play anymore, but the children now have a spot to run around, we’ve video games there, art, we teach coding, it’s gone far beyond just basketball.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 11, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press