Strong Hall became a hub of cheerful celebration on Friday, Nov. 21 during the 12 Organizations Holiday Party.

Hosted by the Filipino American Association, 12 student organizations came together to share food, fun and the holiday spirit with their UT community before finals week.

The first floor of Strong was decorated with lights, garlands and parols — paper star-shaped Christmas decorations traditionally used in the Philippines. Some organizations also hung the flags of their respective countries from a balcony for all partygoers to look at as they walked around.

Amelie Carrillo, a sophomore graphic design major and engagement chair of FAA, was delighted to share a piece of Filipino holiday culture with the campus community. Carrillo explained that the holidays are an important time in the Filipino community, with holiday preparations beginning as early as September.

“For me, Christmas means time I get to connect with lots of my family,” Carrillo said. “I think it’s important to showcase some of Filipino culture, such as with this holiday party. It also gives the campus community more exposure to Filipino food, thanks to contributions from Knoxville’s Filipino community.”

Carrillo was satisfied with the party’s turnout and happy to have the participation of all the organizations involved.

“We wanted to show the community that FAA is back, and we’re here to support our fellow student organizations as well,” Carrillo said.

The party began at 6:30 p.m., but even before then, the first floor of Strong Hall was packed. Trays upon trays of unique dishes were laid out on a table, each prepared by a student organization. By the end of the night, most, if not all of the food had run out.

Some of the dishes served included lumpia, dumplings, Kung Pao chicken, tofu, rice, tea eggs, steamed rice, yakitori chicken skewers, coffee, feijoada, biko, sikwate and ube ensaymada.

Patricia Le, a freshman architecture major and co-freshman representative for the Vietnamese Student Association, rated the party a ten out of ten experience. VSA’s food dish was xoi — sweet coconut sticky rice.

“Everything was extremely well organized and everyone was in the Christmas spirit!” Le wrote in a statement. “I’m from a small town that has a very small Asian population. Being able to meet so many different ethnic groups and try such a diverse range of food was incredible. I learned a lot from different cultures, met so many people, and made a lot of new friends!”

The holidays are a special time for Le because this is the time she gets to spend with her family. She also emphasized the importance of intercultural events such as this in the university community.

“Representation is so important to a person’s well-being and social life,” Le wrote in a statement. “To be able to share your food and culture with others on campus tightens our community and ups our engagement.”

The party wasn’t just full of students mixing and mingling — it also included performances from a couple of student organizations.

The first performances of the night came from the K-Pop Dance Association, which performed “Snowman” by APRIL, “Candy” by NCT DREAM, “Perfect Night” by LE SSERAFIM and “Snowy Summer” by CLOSE YOUR EYES. The dancers all wore cozy-looking, holiday-themed outfits. Once the performance began, all party attendees turned their attention to the dancers.

Following KPDA’s performance were the boys of the Beta Kappa chapter of Lambda Phi Epsilon International Fraternity, Inc. They performed Kelis’ “Milkshake,” followed by a spin-off of the fraternity’s nationally recognized chant.

Javon Garcia, a sophomore computer science major and president of the Beta Kappa chapter of Lambda Phi Epsilon, Inc., was very impressed by the large turnout of the event.

“I think there’s just an environment of inclusivity here,” Garcia said. “It’s a Friday night, and I feel like a lot of people could be finding themselves doing things on the Strip, but they came here instead. I feel like this party has promoted a welcoming environment where everyone can come together and celebrate something.”

Later in the night, everyone moved downstairs to watch a karaoke contest between the 12 organizations. Members from each organization performed a song. The room was full of energy, with the crowd singing along for some performances. Some songs performed included The King Cole Trio’s “The Christmas Song,” Far East Movement’s “Rocketeer,” Childish Gambino’s “3005,” Justin Bieber’s “Beauty and a Beat,” Aska Yang’s “其实都没有” and Laufey’s “Valentine,” with a final surprise of AKUGETSU and BL8M’s “Blink Gone,” performed by members of the Japanese Animanga Research Society.

Afterwards, the party became a free-for-all, where people chatted and socialized while the karaoke continued. The jovial vibe continued late into the night.

One of the karaoke performers was James Stafford, a junior kinesiology major and president of Black Students for Artistic Expression. He performed Kanye West’s “All Falls Down” and had the crowd singing along.

“I really enjoyed it,” Stafford said. “It was kind of impromptu, but it’s a good thing I had a song ready and saved for an event like this.”

The food BAE served at the party included Doritos and Rotel dip.

“I think the dish really encapsulates the culture of the African-American diaspora because everyone does Rotel,” Stafford said. “Events like these present an opportunity for people from other backgrounds to come together and share their cultures. I think we really should have more events like this.”

Stafford expressed his gratitude to the FAA for allowing BAE to take part in the event.

“If we have more events like this, I believe the multicultural student community here on campus will continue to thrive,” Stafford said.