Henry Liu, Contributing Photographer

On Sunday afternoon, the First Annual Intercultural Food Market transformed Old Campus into a celebration of global cuisine, music and community. More than 300 students gathered to sample dishes from around the world, prepared and presented by 16 student organizations.

The event, led by Junior Class Council President Kingson Wills ’26, aimed to foster cross-cultural connection while supporting the local New Haven community.

“It all started with the Junior Class Council’s Harvard-Yale T-shirt fundraiser in the fall, [which meant] we doubled the JCC’s budget,” said Wills. “We wanted to do an event that would give back to New Haven and connect students with different cultures.” 

The JCC gave $200 to each student organization to help prepare food for the event. $800 went toward raffle prizes, including two crocheted whales from Whales of Yale and 50 gift cards to local New Haven businesses. According to Wills, the event drew more than 700 registrants on YaleConnect.

Among the groups in attendance, Mecha de Yale served aguas frescas, while Contigo Perú offered empanadas and Peruvian cola. Club Venezuela distributed arepas and tequeños, and La Unidad Latina provided tacos. Ecuatorianos y Amigos Unidos, or ECUAU, served traditional Ecuadorian candies with visitors.

The Caribbean Students Organization presented curry and jerk chicken, and the Black Student Alliance at Yale, or BSAY, served soul food classics from Sandra’s Next Generation. The Brazil Club offered empadas, coxinha and pão de queijo.

Several Asian student groups also contributed regional specialties. Kasama, the Filipino student group, served pancit, lumpia and buko pandan. Korean American Students at Yale offered kimbap, a seaweed rice roll, while the Nepali Students Society served momo dumplings, and the Asian American Students Alliance — or AASA — offered Mediterranean dishes from Pitaziki Mediterranean Grill.

In addition, the Yale Afghan Students Association featured qabuli, mantu and bolani, while the Nigerian Students Association, or NSA, presented dishes from Ade Kitchen, and SAQIN, a student-founded catering group, served challah and rugelach. The Ethiopian and Eritrean Students Association provided sambusas.

Gloria Baek ’27 helped serve kimbap at the KASY table. 

“I think people really enjoyed the variety of the cultural foods they were able to try — some people just kept coming back for seconds, thirds, and fourths!” Baek said. “Definitely really good turnout, and I had a great time.” 

At the KASY table, two full trays of kimbap were laid out, totaling an estimated 300 slices handed out to attendees.

The KASY table also had ddakji, a traditional South Korean children’s game popularized by the Netflix show Squid Game. Participants who successfully flipped over the square won a ddakji tile as a prize. 

“I thought it was a great event, having so many different organizations with foods from various cultures,” says Nico Upegui ’27, an attendee at the event. “Hosting it in such a central location like Old Campus was a great move.” 

Wills said he hopes even more groups will participate in future years, noting that the 16 featured groups represent only a fraction of cultural groups at Yale. 

Old Campus is located at 344 College St.