Farmers Market features, highlights Asian culture

Despite dreary conditions, participants lined up during AsianFest’s showing at the Bloomington Farmers’ Market Saturday morning.

Presented by the IU Asian Culture Center, the festival featured free food, cooking demonstrations, performances and information booths, all related to the Asian community.

Student assistant Ian White has been volunteering with the center for three years.
The annual festival is now well-established, with recruiting for volunteers starting after spring break, White said.

“At this point, we know what we want to do,” White said. “We want it to be a resource area for people who aren’t familiar with Asian culture in B-town, so we collaborated with the Farmers’ Market.”

The strong, spicy smell of Asian food possibly drew the largest number of spectators in the 40-degree weather.

A makeshift assembly line composed of white rice, tofu curry and chicken curry was set against a backdrop of spectators watching one of many cooking demonstrations.

Small white sheets were placed at the beginning of the table with step-by-step instructions about how to make “Kaeng Luang (Yellow Curry).”

Bloomington resident Ashante Thomas was one of many standing in line to try the curry.

Though she made a trip to the Farmer’s Market for sweet potatoes, she had also read about the AsianFest events in the paper.

She joked that she wasn’t quite sure what she was waiting for but was excited to try something new.

“It adds a little something extra to the Farmers’ Market when cultures are showcased here,” Thomas said. “It makes the community richer.”

For those who found the weather too undesirable, different information booths were set up nearby in City Hall. Advertisements for events including “Your Name in Korean” or “Bento, Sushi, and Furoshiki workshops” drew in curious onlookers.

The Asian American Association was one resource on campus represented with a booth.

Volunteer Gloria Chan explained that the association is all-inclusive. Chinese lanterns and bracelets from the Philippines were on display for the festival.

The other volunteer working the booth, Katie Allis, was new to the group but had already experienced eye-opening insights into the Asian community.

“One time, we had a big group discussion about racial stereotyping and the use of derogatory terms,” she said. “Being white, it’s honestly never something I’ve had to deal with. And to hear from people firsthand that I know that have experienced it, wow.”

Learn more about Asian Culture

WHAT “Asian Cultures Around Campus”
WHEN 5 to 6 p.m. tonight
WHERE IU Asian Culture Center, 807 E. 10th St.
MORE INFO The event is free and will introduce the art of henna, including its origin and different techniques of application. The workshop will offer hands-on experience.