Asian Massage Festival

We warmly invite you to join us for the Asian Massage Festival: Celebrating Asian Massage Workers’ Pride and Resilience as part of Asian Heritage Month 2026.

​​This festival honours the rich cultural heritage of Asian massage practices and recognizes the healing knowledge, labour, resilience, and contributions of Asian massage workers—who have sustained these heritage and tradition across generations.

Event Details

May 23 (Sat)  2:00–5:00 PM

 1:30 PM Community Tables and free mini massage  

In-Person: ​​Asian Massage Workers’ Justice and Solidarity Parade

• Lion dance, taiko, art book-making, massage demonstrations, and speeches by Asian massage workers

• Address: Great Hall, OCAD University, 100 McCaul Street

We invite you to join us in celebrating the Asian Massage Festival, a tribute to the rich cultural heritage of massage in Asian communities.
This festival honours the healing traditions, skilled practices, and resilience of massage workers—especially Asian women—who have carried this knowledge across generations as a form of care, survival, and cultural continuity.
Despite its deep roots in holistic wellness and community care, Asian massage has been widely stigmatized, and criminalized. Due to systemic racism, classism, and language barriers, many low-income migrant Asian women are excluded by restrictive laws and policies. As a result, their work is often treated as illegal or associated with human trafficking, making them vulnerable to policing, discrimination, and criminalization. Massage parlours are increasingly targeted by government and anti-trafficking campaigns, leading to raids, fines, and shut downs.
​​Asian massage workers are neither criminals nor trafficking victims—they are workers.
Massage is not a crime—it is a practice of healing, dignity, and cultural wisdom. It provides not only physical care, but also economic independence and social connection for many marginalized women.
Join us in recognizing massage as a vital part of Asian heritage, and in standing against the stigma, racism, and criminalization faced by Asian massage workers. Let us celebrate with pride, dignity, and solidarity.