The Haggard Park parking lot is situated between the park and the Downtown Plano DART station. As it provides the most favorable parking spaces, and the spaces in it are limited, we need to keep the parking lot for restricted personnel only.
Duties
- Controlling access to the parking lot
- Ensuring there are enough spaces for the performers' loading zone
- Allowing vehicles to exit by temporarily moving the traffic cones
- Allowing authorized vehicles to enter by temporarily moving the traffic cones
Who can enter
| Type of permit | Can park? | Can load/unload? |
|---|---|---|
| Performers | No | Yes |
| Sponsors | Yes | Yes |
| Plano AsiaFest staff
CAAHF board members |
Yes | Yes |
| City of Plano staff and the Mayor of Plano | Yes | Yes |
| Plano Police and Plano Fire Rescue | Yes | Yes |
We cannot post the decal here because this is a public website. We'll show it to you on the day of the festival.
To verify the permit, scan either of the QR codes on it (they are the same) and verify that it goes to the permit checking website. It should say "Valid" in green text with the license plate number and the type of permit that was issued. If it says "Invalid" in red text, deny entry.
The people who are authorized to park in the parking lot have to have AsiaFest permits. There are six categories of permits: performer, vendor, sponsor, organizer, accessible, and City of Plano permits. They are supposed to have printed out the permits in color and show it on their dash, but if they have it on their phone, that's fine, just heavily discouraged. As long as the permit has two QR codes on the bottom left and right corners (which are the same), and contains their license plate number printed on it, they can proceed into the parking lot for our volunteer to scan. The volunteer will handle where they can go into the lot and how long they can stay there. If they cannot present a permit within 10 seconds, tell them to keep traffic flowing and circle around and come back. The cars have been directed to only left turn into the parking lot by going eastbound on 15th Street, and have been expressly forbidden to come westbound on 15th Street, due to safety concerns arising from holding up traffic on the DART railroad tracks. Any cars trying to right turn into the parking lot should be rejected, for safety purposes, even if they have a valid permit.
Performers
Performers are a special case. We do not have enough parking spaces for all performers to park there all day, so we can only provide a few spaces for immediate loading/unloading.
As of 2023, we will accept only one form of proof:
- A performer loading/unloading permit.
In either case, you also need to ask them when their performance is. They have been told to come unload 45 minutes to an hour before their scheduled performance time, so we can stagger the load/unload and have enough spots at any given time. If they come too early, please ask them to come back 45 mins-1 hr before their performance. (In practice, they can unload at any time before their performance, but inform them they can only unload and then must leave immediately.) The car can load them in after their performance concludes but they must again leave quickly and can't stay there. Please allow them some grace period from what the published schedule says. The schedule may be ahead of/behind schedule by as much as ±30 minutes.
Inform the driver that they preferably should not leave the car if possible. If they need to help load/unload, tell them they need to come back within 10 minutes.
Vendors
Vendors with a loading permit can come in the morning to unload between 9am and 11am. In the afternoon, they are free to load after the conclusion of parking enforcement at 3pm.
Sponsors
Sponsors who have parking decals are allowed to park at the parking lot. This is because they most likely have a lot of things to bring into the park to set up their booth. They do not have any time restrictions, but please ask them to not park in the reserved load/unload spots for performers.
Plano AsiaFest staff and CAAHF board members
If they claim to be a Plano AsiaFest staff or CAAHF board member, please have them show their organizer permit. If the CAAHF board member forgot their badge, please have them show their photo ID and look up whether their name appears on asianamericanheritage.org/about.asp. Family members of Plano AsiaFest staff and CAAHF board members can also be admitted; in some cases, this could be their ride home! In case of doubt, please call the volunteer coordinator and he will determine whether they can enter or not.
Please note that volunteers are not considered AsiaFest staff.
City of Plano staff
If they are in a City of Plano car, let them in.
If they show you their City of Plano badge, let them in.
If they are the Mayor of Plano, his family, or associated personnel, let them in.
Plano Police and Plano Fire Rescue
If a fire truck or ambulance arrives on site, remove the cones immediately and let them in.
If a marked Plano police car shows up, let them in. If they are unmarked and claim to be police, either ask for a uniformed police officer on-site to verify or ask to see their badge. For other cities, they don't have jurisdiction in Plano, so most likely they are just visiting from another city off-duty, and they won't be allowed to park.
Who cannot enter
| Direct them to park at | |
|---|---|
| Volunteers | Load/unload at the Cox Playhouse/Courtyard Theater parking lot or the Municipal Court parking lot
|
| Food vendors | Avenue H |
| General public (attendees) | Park at any other city lot for free |
Please be courteous when directing others to a new place to park! As you know, parking at a festival is very stressful, so they will understandably be disappointed at being unable to park at the best spot. Please be empathetic to their situation but explain to them that the parking is reserved for performers, event staff, and the City of Plano staff, in order to facilitate the smooth functioning of the festival. Please provide them with the list of free parking spots (tell them to visit info.planoasiafest.org/wiki/Attendees) so they have some choices to select.
People who cannot park/load and unload, even though they purport to have some sort of connection to the festival:
- Relatives and friends of performers. Unless they are performing, they cannot unload in the park.
- Friends of sponsors. Only sponsors with a parking decal can enter the lot to park. Unless they have a parking permit, they cannot park.
Handling tough situations
There are gray areas when telling people that they cannot park here. Please see the following examples of what to do in tough cases:
- A car with a handicapped driver/passenger needs to park near the park. If walking to the park from another parking lot would cause great distress or is physically impossible, allow them to unload quickly in the handicapped parking spots, and have the driver go to another parking lot. If the driver is non-handicapped, please have them park elsewhere soon. Otherwise, if the driver is handicapped, let them stay in the handcapped parking spots.
- A performer comes solo and has heavy instruments or a performer comes with no adults and their kids. In this case, it is not possible for them to reasonably carry instruments from a far away parking lot, nor is it possible for them to leave their kids alone. We should not carry their instruments because doing so creates liability for us. And most certainly we cannot let kids be stranded without their parent! Instead, you can give them an exception. If it is within 45 minutes of their performance, you could let them park, but inform them they need to move their car immediately after their performance.
- A family comes with kids and cannot find parking anywhere else. If two parents insist, let them unload quickly but don't move the cones to let them into the lot. (Do not proactively offer this, or everyone will start unloading and we will cause a traffic jam along 15th Street, and this would get us in trouble with the police.) Unfortunately, we cannot make exceptions unless there is a very good reason. Please provide them with the list of free parking spots (tell them to visit info.planoasiafest.org/wiki/Attendees) so they have some choices to select.
- Someone insists they are eligible to park. In this case, please contact the volunteer coordinator so he may clarify the situation. We may let them load/unload but most likely they will not be eligible to park.
- Philip Ng: He will come with a trailer. He is eligible to park.
- Vendors: Not eligible to park unless they are also a sponsor who has been granted a parking pass.
Ultimately, we ask you to use your best judgment. Please be fair but kind.
If you are unsure, contact the volunteer coordinator by cell phone so he may clarify the situation.
If a driver becomes confrontational, call Plano AsiaFest staff immediately. If you are threatened with violence, call 911 immediately. We have police stationed at Plano AsiaFest, including some close by to you. Your safety is always the most important thing.
