Second annual Titan Night Market brings a blend of diverse Asian cultures to CSUF

Daily Titan

The fragrance of different cultures coming together emanated from the CSUF Student Housing Piazza Wednesday at the second annual Titan Night Market. The event was part of Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) heritage month.
“I really hope to bring the APIDA community together to build a coalition and get not just those organizations, but all of our student organizations on campus to collaborate,” said Jacob Chacko, the coordinator for the Asian Pacific American Resource Center.
Inspired by the 626 Night Market, an event that brings the Asian street food culture to the San Gabriel Valley every summer, different APIDA organizations handed out foods from different Asian cultures for participating in activities.
“We brought it here last year, very successful as you can see. There are a lot of people here and it’s just been a collaboration with a lot of our APIDA student organizations,” Chacko said.
Food at the event included katsu, baklava, spam masubi, spring roll and milk tea, among other cultural dishes.
“I think it’s really cool. We get to try food and just get to learn about other cultures,” said freshman kinesiology major Janelle Martin. “I love Asian fusion. I don’t know exactly what specific area it comes from, but I love all types of food like this.”
Along with going to different booths to get a taste of various ethnic food, students were also able to engage in activities such as origami, giant Jenga and a photo station.
“There was a lady there who was able to educate me on some of the history of origami, and I thought that was pretty interesting to learn about,” said senior kinesiology major Darius Nguyen.
As the event progressed, students from the participating organizations performed dances, chants and songs.
Juliane Aurora, a contestant on “American Idol” and “The X Factor,” was the guest performer. She started ...

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