Garrett Curtis, Contributing Photographer

On Saturday, around 300 students gathered at Old Campus to attend the annual night market event. 

A myriad of food options were provided at various club booths, and participants were treated to dancing and martial arts performances. The event was organized by the Asian American Student Alliance, also known as the AASA, along with affiliate student organizations of the Asian American Cultural Center. 

“We’re just really happy that so many people showed up, all the clubs were able to come, and they made a lot of food,” Justin Fan ’28, a co-lead organizer of this year’s night market, told the News. “A lot of people were happy with that, it was just entertaining for them.”

From coordinating rehearsals for dances to instrumental performances to preparing food for booths, board members attested to the event preparation process as a unifying experience. 

The night market is one of the prominent cultural events of the year, and therefore clubs began preparations long before the date. Rafia Mobashira ’27, another co-lead organizer of this year’s night market, told the News that planning began one month ahead of the event, and involved 16 of the more than 50 affiliate groups of the AACC. 

Although the night market usually takes place during the spring semester, Mobashira said this year it was delayed until the fall.

AACC affiliate organizations brought cultural food and drinks to the event. Students could purchase bundles of three food tickets online for $10. Each ticket could then be exchanged for food at each booth.

Oyshi Monawarah ’28, a first-year liaison for the Yale Bengali Students Association, pointed to the “focused efforts and challenging logistics” involved in preparing Jhal Muri, a signature Bengali street snack that YBSA offered at their booth. A key ingredient of Jhal Muri is Chanachur —  a spicy snack mix — which isn’t readily accessible in typical stores.

Janina Gbenoba ’27, a social chair on the board of Kasama, the Yale Filipino Club, pointed to preparing and serving food as one of her favorite parts of the event. She described cooking with club members in the AACC kitchen as “a bonding experience.”  

Anh Nguyen ’26, an AASA coordinator and co-president of Asian Recipes at Yale told the News that affiliate organizations like ARAY provided foods and drinks without funding from the AASA.

Nguyen said that proceeds from food ticket sales will go to New Haven mutual aid funds, as the Night Market usually raises around $500. According to Fan, the proceeds for this year will be posted on the AASA Instagram account.

With several representatives from each club running each booth, the night market was not only an opportunity for attendees to make friends and enjoy shows but also a special occasion for club members to connect with each other. 

“For anyone who identifies as Asian, this event is really fun, a good way to hang out with friends, you get to try out a lot of different foods, and you also get to enjoy the performances,” said Tina Huang ’26, who initially learned about the night market from her friends in AASA. 

Ronald Gomez ’28 attended the event as a member of the performance group Red Lantern, which performed a Chinese fan dance at the event. Although he believed the event was a testament to the diversity of cultural groups at the University, Gomez told the News that he did not think the food tickets were worth it.

“I feel the food was good, don’t get me wrong, the quality was there, but the portion size was way too small,” Gomez said.

With a high turnout and mostly positive feedback from the student body, organizers considered the event a success and are considering hosting another one in the Spring. 

Though complex, the clubs agreed that the preparations were “worth it,” as the feedback to the food booths and performance groups was generally positive. Mobashira hoped that the next event could be bigger and better with more participation and earlier planning.

The Asian American Cultural Center was established in 1981.