The 850 Night Market is a yearly event at Florida State University that celebrates Asian-American culture and diversity by hosting local Asian-American founded businesses and student organizations, with free food to match. This year, the market was held on the Union Green, a tradition started three years ago by former AASU Student Director Nina Chong, collaborating with Club Down Under to make her idea into a reality. The choice to host the market on the green came from the night markets that were held in California, also held in the open outdoors.
“This was her big passion project,” said AASU Student Director Sean Faletti. “She put [it] into effect on Landis Green, and since then we’ve been doing an annual event, collaborating with Club Down Under, really trying to celebrate the culture, and just give back to the community.”
“This is our third year working with AASU,” said CDU Event Coordinator Kayla Williams. “The culture and arts coordinator has always worked with the Asian American Student Union to put on 850 Night Market. It was just an idea that AASU pitched us and we were happy to work with them… AASU is the backbone of it.”
The event started at 6 p.m., but long before that, there was a line stretched all the way to the HCB building from the Union Green with students clamoring to find out what the market was all about.
Inside were stalls and stands of all kinds promoting different Asian groups at FSU, from the Vietnamese Student Association and South Asian Student Association to Alpha Kappa Delta Phi, the only Asian-interest sorority on campus. There were stands that sold local clothing and others that stood by to support Asian heritage like the Black Student Union. In the front of the event was the food stand from sponsor restaurant Izzy Pub & Sushi which had the longest line of all, serving Korean fried chicken bites, pork lumpia and umami hummus.
Viet Vu, the man behind the food, was there scooping from the aluminum foil-covered trays…
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