The smell of Taiwanese street food, a sea of chatter and palpable energy filled UT’s main mall Friday night as the Taiwanese American Student Association’s Night Market brought a taste of Taiwan to UT.

Late night street markets with stalls and attractions showcase local cuisine, night markets, house activities and culture across Asia. Taiwanese night markets found their roots in the Chinese Tang Dynasty and became an integral part of local life and tourism. 

Maximus Chen, TASA communications officer and biochemistry junior, says that TASA has hosted a night market every year since 2002. The club’s biggest event of the year takes key elements of Taiwanese night markets including food, games and live performances and brings them to UT students for free. Over the years, the event grew larger in scale.

“Aside from recreating the cultural experience, like comfort food or performances, it’s the environment and the energy that Night Market really excels at recreating,” said Ryan Chen, finance junior and TASA finance officer. 

Every TASA Night Market follows a different theme, giving each year a unique feel. This year, following a Taiwanese folklore theme, the event included six game booths and four additional activities operated by other Asian American clubs. Hand-prepared by TASA volunteers on-site, the food consisted of scallion pancakes, fried rice and dumplings.

David Fleming, electrical and computer engineering sophomore and TASA Vice President Internal, said preparations for the fall event begin as far in advance as the previous spring semester. 

“We  start  off  by trying to get sponsors  as soon as possible,” Fleming said. “(As the fall semester begins) we try to get volunteers and performers to come and make sure everyone is entertained throughout the whole night.”

Along with the other festivities, entertainment by dance crews and other performance groups serve as the event’s backbone. Baani Sandhu, business and radio-television-film freshman,  performed at Night Market with Kontrol Crew Texas, a K-pop dance group.

“Giving these spaces for UT students to see various performances allows us to bond with people we didn’t even know we had common interests with,” Sandhu said.

Events like Night Market prove key to the Asian American social scene at UT, as other Asian American clubs such as Japanese Association, Chinese Student Association and Vietnamese Students Association support the event through tabling. Chen said the event encourages the Asian American community to remain very tight knit. 

“We have these large networks,” Chen said. “(During large events) we reestablish this ongoing relationship so that in the future when we have smaller events, we can always look out to other people to expand our audience and impact that we’re delivering on campus.” 

By sharing elements of Taiwanese culture and leaning on the UT Asian American community, TASA’s night market would like to reach a greater UT audience, Fleming said. 

“This event is really good for bringing the (whole UT) community together,” Fleming said. “People of different backgrounds can come together and enjoy a certain aspect of Asian culture together.”