The Taiwanese Student Association prepares to host its biggest event of the year with the Taiwanese Night Market this Saturday.
The organization’s president, Kang-I Chao, said the event is not only the most important event, but also most unique event held each year. Chao said he hopes attendees experience special Taiwanese food and
entertainment.
“We will provide more than 18 different unique Taiwanese foods, which would be very special for most of the attendance because it could be hard for them to get a chance to try those special foods,” Chao said.
He said there will also be seven professional performances including Taiwanese pop dance, singing, belly dancing and the dance provided by the club officers.
The association began planning for this year’s Taiwanese Night Market since February, and vice-president Derrick Hwang said a number of people helped make the event possible.
“The actual event planning began around February, where we found a staff of about 60 people to make this event possible,” Hwang said.
He said the market event has been an annual event for five years, and the association has been preparing for the event through fundraising efforts since fall semester.
“This event is what defines our organization and our mission statement of ‘promoting Taiwanese culture to the WSU and University of Idaho community,’” Hwang said.
The Taiwanese Night Market will feature traditional games and events such as Taiwanese Pin Ball, stacking rings and many more events, Chao said. He said those in attendance can also expect to get a gift themselves.
“All of the attendance will receive a little gift and there will be some special prizes too,” Chao said. “During the event, we will have a video and PowerPoint (presentation) about Taiwanese and Taiwanese Night Market, therefore, the attendance will be able to understand the beauty, the real culture of Taiwan, and the spirit of the Taiwanese.”
Hwang said the organization’s members hope the Taiwanese Night Market helps encourage the WSU community to recognize the large Taiwanese community in Pullman.
He said the event this year has been more popular than ever. The demand to come to the event has reached the campuses of the University of Idaho, Gonzaga University, Eastern Washington University and the Taiwanese population of the University of Washington, he said.
“We hope we can replicate to the best of our ability, the experience of the Night Market or (Yachi) in Taiwan here in WSU,” Hwang said. “We hope that through this event people can recognize that even though Taiwanese culture derives from Chinese culture, (it is) still in many ways different and unique from the Chinese culture.”
The Taiwanese Night Market is set to take place Saturday, April 7 from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m in the gymnasium of the Gladish Community and Cultural Center. For more information, students can visit the Taiwanese Student Association’s Night Market Facebook event page.
