A cultural parade of traditional gowns made its way down the runway of the Memorial Union’s Gallery Monday night.

The Asian Pacific American Awareness Coalition opened the first annual Asian Heritage Week, “Making Waves,” with the parade.

The event, attended by about 50 people, was relocated indoors from Lake Laverne because of the bad weather. A launch of Lotus boats on the lake, also planned for Monday night, was rescheduled for Friday at 6 p.m.

The “Parade of Nations” featured representatives from 10 countries, most which showcased students in their traditional formal outfits.

Many of the outfits consisted of tailored gowns made of silk, velvet and coined jewelry.

Nu Huynh, a junior in psychology, and Hien Nguyen, a sophomore in electrical and computer engineering, modeled traditional Vietnamese gowns, which have a Chinese influence.

The silk outfits they wore consisted of silk pants and long, thin dress tops. The outfits, they said, were clothes someone would wear at cultural dances.

Nguyen said most Vietnamese clothes, although tailor-made, are made by cheap labor.

The tailored outfits could cost up to $1,000, said one South Korean student.

Fiona Peng, a senior in microbiology, wore a traditional wedding gown from Hmong, a minority area of China.

Her gown consisted of a velvet purple top with small, green beads and a cream skirt with long, colorful pieces of attached cloths overlapping. The outfit stood out with silver-colored coins decorating it.

Peng said weddings and New Year’s Day celebrations are the important events to which those of her culture would wear such formal clothing.

Other events planned for Asian Heritage Week include the Asian Film Festival today at 6 p.m. in Room 1414 of Molecular Biology.

The film, “Slaying the Dragon,” will be shown in the South Ballroom of the Memorial Union on Wednesday as part of a discussion about stereotypes of Asian-American women in the media.

On Thursday, keynote speaker Ronald Takaki, a professor of ethnic studies at the University of California at Berkeley will speak about race and ethnicity in the South Ballroom of the Memorial Union at 8 p.m.

The week will close with a formal banquet in the Scheman Building at 7 p.m. on Saturday and the India Student Association Cultural Night on Sunday at 7 p.m. in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union.

Rafael Rodriguez, director of minority student affairs, said at Monday night’s festivities that when he interviewed for his position two years ago, he realized there was no organization for Asian-Pacific students.

“I think it’s so wonderful,” he said. “It’s an honor to be here tonight at ‘Making Waves.’ You who have made this possible, I congratulate you and applaud you.”