People were crowded shoulder-to-shoulder Saturday morning at the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market. Instead of buying apples and potatoes, they were gathered to watch cultural dances, discuss cultural identity and learn to write their names using calligraphy.
In a partnership between the Asian Culture Center and the City of Bloomington, the annual Asian Fest at the Market took place Saturday at the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market.
The event consisted of several booths representing different Asian countries with activities for attendees to try. Children and adults danced and played drums on stage while attendees watched.
The crowd slowly leaked over to the usual Farmers’ Market as the event concluded.
“This is great,” said Samuel Buelow, an IU graduate student and member of Asian Cultural Center. “A lot of people are coming through, and we are having great conversations with a lot of people.”
Buelow was working at the booth representing the central Asian country Kyrgyzstan. It featured a workshop that taught participants to create felt carpets, called shyrdak.
Chris Lu sat at the table for the Chinese Calligraphy Club, which taught attendees how to write their names and other words in Chinese calligraphy.
Lu said he was pleased with the size of the crowd that congregated at the event.
“Maybe people can learn about culture,” Lu said.
Two attendees at Asian Fest were Bloomington residents Deb Wiggins and her granddaughter Briana Osmon. This is Osmon’s second or third time attending Asian Fest. They go because of Osmon’s Korean heritage, Wiggins said. She is a quarter Korean.
On her hand, Osmon had an intricate henna design, which she said is her favorite part of Asian Fest.
One year, Osmon wrote her name in calligraphy, and the writing is now framed in her room, she said.
Wiggins said she enjoyed going to the event with her granddaughter to learn more about Korean culture, which included looking at the recipes in a cookbook.
“I enjoyed looking through that cookbook a while ago, and maybe get some other of your grandmother’s recipes,” Wiggins said while looking at her granddaughter.
Among the many other tables was the Filipino Student Association. Its current vice president, Bethany Pastrana, said the Philippines typically has a very hot environment, so they loved the weather Saturday, which reached a high of nearly 80 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
“I love the farmers’ market, and I love Asian Fest,” Pastrana said. “It’s a fun environment.”
The booth was covered with flowers and had bamboo sticks on the ground. Pastrana said many people associate the Philippines with a tropical landscape, but she said that is incorrect because their country is not tropical, just very hot.
The booth operated by the Filipino Student Association was demonstrating stick fighting and also a dance called tinikling, which consists of jumping in between two bamboo rods that are smacked together repeatedly and avoiding catching your feet or ankles.
“It started out as a punishment from the Spaniards for the Filipino villagers, but we are using it as a form of empowerment and dance,” Pastrana said.
Bo and Sheila Henry have lived on the country outskirts of Bloomington for many years but recently moved into town by Wonderlab in order to downsize, Bo said.
The couple are both retired school teachers, Sheila said, so they have had a lot of students from other countries. She said Asian Fest reminded her of the unit she taught her students about Japan.
“I’ve seen a lot of things we did and things we didn’t do since this is all of Asia rather than just Japan,” Sheila said.
The Korean School of Bloomington Indiana had a table with toys, traditional instruments and information about the school. Charles Kang, a volunteer for the Korean school and a junior at Bloomington High School North, said the organization came last year and it was a lot of fun.
Kang said he wanted people to get interested in Asian culture at the event.
May is Asian-American History Month, but Asian Culture Center Director Melanie Castillo-Cullather said they choose to celebrate in April to allow IU students to participate in the celebrations and activities.
The event is a way to bring IU students out into Bloomington so they can celebrate the town as well, she said.
“It brings the community together,” Castillo- Cullather said.
