The sound of dancing feet and the scents of popcorn, cotton candy and spicy food wafted through the Student Union lobby on Wednesday at the eighth annual Latino Bazaar.
The theme of the event changes from year to year and has its origins in students' desire to increase cultural awareness around campus, according to Student Life Coordinator Vicki Sapp.
This year, with banners and brightly colored informational posters, the bazaar commemorated the independence days of each of the 21 different Latin American countries represented.
"Students were interested in having something to celebrate their backgrounds," said Sapp, who helped organize this year's Latino Bazaar.
All of the groups at the Latino Bazaar helped to plan and execute it, according to Sapp, who noted that it took six weeks of efforts by more than just the UB Latino student community to put the event together.
"This is a truly multicultural event," said Sapp. "There were many non-Latino students who helped with it. As you can see, the Black Student Union helped us, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is here, too."
Dionisia Duarte, a senior in the Center for the Americas, echoed Sapp's sentiments. At the bazaar Duarte donned the purple sash she received this year as the first Latina student to be awarded UB homecoming queen.
"Everyone kind of comes out together for these things. We all support each other," Duarte said.
Unity for such events is important to overall cultural awareness, said Luis Ramirez, an urban and public policy studies major who represented Lambda Upsilon Lambda Fraternity Incorporated.
"Before, you didn't see many (cultural awareness) events. Now, more people know about these other cultures," Ramirez said. "The banners help to increase people's knowledge of them, and the performances and dancing give people a taste for (Latino) cultures," said Ramirez.
The Latino Bazaar isn't the end, either, according to Ramirez.
"Be on the lookout for more events like this," he said.
Sashti Balasundaram, a junior biology major, detoured from her path through the Union to see what all the excitement was about.
"I was just walking through the Student Union and they were playing music, people were dancing," Balasundaram said, adding that she recently spent a semester in Australia.
"It reminds me of studying abroad," said Balasundaram. "Both studying abroad and this really (give) you a small peek at all of what's out there."
