Storyland opens Hmong playhouse celebrating Yer and the Tiger

Storyland’s newest attraction gives Fresno children a place to play inside a Hmong folktale. The Hmong Playhouse, unveiled at a May 12 ribbon cutting, is built around Yer and the Tiger and uses bamboo walls, a traditional-style home and an interactive storybook outside the hut to bring the tale to life.

Families entering the exhibit can press a button on the book and hear the start of the story, turning the playhouse into more than a display. The design is meant to mirror the kind of home Hmong families would have lived in across Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, while giving children a hands-on way to connect with a story that has been passed down for generations.

The Fresno Center and Measure P helped make the project possible. Measure P is the 3/8-cent sales tax Fresno voters approved in 2018, and it brings in about $37.5 million a year for city parks, recreation, trails and arts programs. For a park that draws about 1,500 visitors a month and roughly 3,000 schoolchildren each year on field trips, the new playhouse adds another layer to Storyland’s role as both a family destination and an educational stop.

Pao Yang, president and CEO of The Fresno Center, said the folktale represents heritage and identity, and he hopes children who visit will know the story as well as they know other common childhood tales. That goal carries particular weight in Fresno, where Hmong families are a major part of the city’s cultural fabric. A 2023 Fresno Bee report said more than half of Fresno’s Asian-Pacific Islander population of about 78,000 are Hmong, and that Fresno has the nation’s second-largest Hmong population behind Minneapolis.

The ribbon cutting also underscored that the exhibit was built for children already growing up in Fresno’s schools and neighborhoods. Cultural performances and students from Fresno Unified School District’s Hmong Language Program took part in the celebration, tying the attraction directly to the community it is meant to reflect.

The playhouse opened just weeks after Paul’s Pirate Ship debuted on March 28, 2026, marking Storyland’s second major addition in six weeks. The pirate ship was described as the park’s largest project since Storyland reopened in 2015, and the Hmong Playhouse extends that period of investment with a distinctly local focus.

Storyland has also been using Measure P money for broader improvements. In July 2025, the park received a separate $1 million Measure P grant for accessibility upgrades, including ADA-compliant restroom stalls and railings. Together, the changes show how Fresno’s parks dollars are reshaping one of Roeding Park’s best-known family attractions, not just by fixing aging infrastructure, but by making room for the stories Fresno’s children should see represented from the start.