The traveling Saigon Night Market brought crowds to the Caloosa Sound Amphitheater on Saturday, Nov. 22, drawing hundreds for an evening of food, music and cultural performances. Attendees lined up for dishes from Vietnam, Thailand, Japan and other Asian vendors while performers in elaborate dragon costumes danced through the venue collecting offerings from children and adults - a nod to a long-standing tradition meant to ward off evil spirits.
Co-organizer Vishal Vellody said the idea for the market began years ago with a high-school friend who was Vietnamese.
“I can't really say pho is in my blood, but I’ve eaten it so many times that it might be a small percentage of me,” Vellody said. “We kind of started this together.”
He said the dragon dance ritual is rooted in folklore. “You give them some sort of offering. You can give them food, you can give them money,” he said. “This is a very common thing in cultures all across Asia.”
Although “Saigon” is the former name of what is now Ho Chi Minh City, Vellody said the event isn’t meant to make a political statement. “We're just trying to spread the culture and the love and the food and the dance,” he said. “No politics involved - and we just thought the name sounded cool.”
Vellody shares that the market’s broad mixtures of cuisines are intentional. “Who's going to come to a festival with just Vietnamese food? When we can get lumpia, Lao sausage or some Indian curry?”
Among Saturday’s performers was singer Rosie Vy, who was born in Vietnam and raised in the United States. She said the turnout reflected a growing appreciation for Asian cultures.
“I just saw some traditional dancing, and vendors with Vietnamese and other foods, like Laos and Thai,” she said. “I feel proud that Americans [are] willing to come together and try. I think it’s great.”
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