The annual 865 Night Market brought a night of food, fun and festivities to 21st Mortgage Plaza on Friday night.
Formerly organized by the Center for Student Engagement, it is now an entirely student-led endeavor.
The Night Market has been a staple on campus for many years, an event where student organizations can collaborate and promote their clubs by selling food and tabling. This year, 17 student organizations participated, including the Asian American Association, which organized the event.
“Reaching out to everyone was very easy,” Emily Nguyen, a biochemistry and molecular biology junior on the pre-dental track and the president of AAA, said. “Everyone did their part and helped us out.”
During the market, AAA hosted a raffle for a wide array of prizes, including keychains, Legos, posters, rugs, blind boxes, chopsticks, night lights and figurines. For a small fee, students could enter the raffle.
The market has a different theme each year — this year’s was the adorable Sanrio characters, Hello Kitty and her colorful companions. Many student organization leaders wore fluffy headbands themed after specific characters, and there was also a photo opportunity with a Sanrio-themed background.
In previous years, planning for the market would start months in advance, but due to changes in funding and the switch to the event being student-led, the organizations only had a number of weeks to prepare. Nguyen was satisfied with how the event turned out.
“Seeing everyone having so much fun and seeing everyone smile is the reason I do this,” Nguyen said. “Seeing everyone come out to such a big event that AAA plans is amazing, just to see the impact we can have on UTK campus.”
Around 7:45 p.m., the K-Pop Dance Association performed “Spaghetti” by LE SSERAIFM, “Woke Up” by XG, “Black Mamba” by Aespa, “Hollywood Action” by BOYNEXTDOOR and “Saucin” by Lngshot.
The food selection was just as mouthwatering as last year, with a selection of food and drinks including pandan waffles, Vietnamese coffee with cold foam, onigiri, croffles (a croissant-waffle combination), brown sugar bubble milk tea and more. Local vendor Girls Gotta Eat Good Asian Bakery was also present with ube cheesecake brownies.
This year’s market included a new club on the scene, the Central Asian Society, led by co-founder and president Malika Arifova. The Night Market marked the organization’s first time participating in a large event on campus.
“We created this club not only to build a strong sense of community for Central Asian students, but also give others the opportunity to learn about Central Asia’s cultures, traditions and diversity,” Arifova said. “We felt that there is a lack of awareness about Central Asian countries, and we wanted to change that by bringing our culture to UTK in an engaging and welcoming way.”
During the market, the Central Asian Society sold plov and somsa, two very popular Central Asian dishes.
“We wanted to introduce people to authentic flavors and give them a real taste of our culture,” Arifova said.
Arifova was grateful for the opportunity the Night Market gave her to connect with the campus community.
“Events like the Night Market create opportunities for cultural exchange and connection,” Arifova said. “They allow students to step outside of their own experiences, learn about different cultures in an interactive way and build a more inclusive and diverse community.”
Nguyen expressed gratitude to her executive board, the participating student organizations and attendees of the event.
“This is so important because it brings all of our multicultural clubs together,” Nguyen said. “It’s just clubs supporting clubs, and it allows students to learn about these clubs, about culture and just see all of the opportunities here at UT. It allows everyone to connect — doesn’t matter who you are, doesn’t matter what you’re studying, doesn’t matter where you’re from — you’re all here to enjoy the Night Market.”
