Two colorful heritage and culture events kick off the weekend at UB, with the Latino Art and Food Festival on Friday and the Tribute to Haiti Night Saturday night.
Latin American SA gets things going tonight at their annual Latino and Art Food Festival. Starting at 5 p.m., organizers say over 80 people will fill 145D Student Union to join in the festivities.
"This year we are focusing on making this festival a cultural exposition," said Narcisa Paez, the vice president of Latin American SA. "We are showing cultural artifacts, with paintings and sculptures and having various readings that are involved with the Latino culture."
Dinner will also be served after the festival, at 7 p.m. in the Student Union's flag room.
"There will be a lot of Latino food for everyone at the dinner," said Paez, a junior sociology major. "We have prepared a wide assortment of foods from all over Latin America, in hopes that everyone can get a little taste of our home."
Paez added the event is open to all who want to join in on the celebration, not just those students who are part of the Latino SA.
"I heard about the event and knew there was nothing better than Latin entertainment and food," said Shelley Imbs, a senior special major in advertising. "I will definitely be attending this year."
An arrangement of UB student's paintings and sculptures, as well as artists from Buffalo's West Side, will also be featured at the event.
"This year is more extensive than last year. We will be having readings of Latino literature, in hopes to broaden our festival activities," Paez said. "We have so many different customs and traditions that most people don't know about, this year is our chance to focus our attention on our diversity."
The weekend's cultural events continue with Tribute to Haiti Night on Saturday at 5 p.m. in South Campus' Harriman Hall, where there will be a wide variety of performances and a Caribbean dinner to cap the evening.
"There will be skits, dances and poem readings throughout the evening," said Witzard Joseph, president of Haitian SA. "We basically are inviting all other international clubs to join, in hopes that this year we can give tribute to Haiti through these performances."
According to Joseph, this year Haitian SA has gone beyond their past efforts and have begun to raise money for the Hurricane stricken Caribbean.
"In the beginning of this semester the Caribbean was bombarded with hurricanes that were a catastrophe for that area," said Joseph, a senior biotechnology major. "Because of this, the Haitian SA decided to start raising money through ticket sales to this dinner and donations from other SA clubs, as well as local businesses."
Joseph added the group plans to hold a clothing and food drive to raise money in time for Thanksgiving.
"We have raised $100 thus far and our goal is to reach $1,000 by Thanksgiving," Joseph said. "What an amazing gift we could give to those in need during such a thankful time."
With 25 active members, the Haitian SA coordinators also said they are planning the festival's array of activities, foods and entertainment for anyone who's interested.
"I have always supported the HSA, they are a community of people that are open to anyone and everything," said Olivier Vasquez, a fifth year engineer major. "We are not restricted to only Haitian members, but instead ask anyone to stop down and take the time to learn about what the HSA is all about."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
