The Bangladesh Students Association at Illinois State University hosted its annual Bangladeshi Food Festival on Saturday, giving the Redbird community a chance to learn the culture, and most of all, eat food.
The festival opened with a poetry reading, followed by music, dancing and stand-up comedy. More than 100 community members attended the festival, including professors and their families.
Julian Westerhout, a professor in ISU’s Department of Politics and Government, was one of these community members. Westerhout attended with his wife, Noha Shawki, a professor in the same department. Shawki learned about the event from a current student.
“There’s obviously a Bangladeshi community here for students, some in the community as well,” Westerhout said. “I think they’ve done a big effort to try to invite friends and faculty members and others.”
several attendees were invited by current and former students or were friends of BSA-ISU members.
Ikram Bhuiyan, social secretary for the BSA-ISU, said he was one of the group’s many members to invite friends and family to the event. He also noted the Bangladeshi culture itself plays a role in attracting people.
“They can get to know us, like how we dress, how we eat, and what other cultures there are and what the environment is,” Bhuiyan said.
Tahmid Rashid, advisor for the BSA-ISU, was a huge part of the festival. Rashid is also a singer who provided two of the songs performed.
Rashid strongly believes in the cultural pull of the Bangladeshi Food Festival.
“I feel that it’s mostly the rich culture that attracts people,” Rashid said. “Food is one of them that’s part of the culture, the music, the dance, and it’s mostly the people.”
The event’s main attraction was of course the food, and no guest went home hungry — which Bhuiyan said was the festival’s main goal.
“This was a food festival today. We wanted to show our food culture,” Bhuiyan said.
There was an outpouring of support for BSA-ISU students, and it was felt throughout all corners of the event.
“I think it’s always fun for students, whether they know about different cultures or not, to have the opportunity here to be exposed to things, to different cultures, different foods, different opportunities,” Westerhout said.
The BSA-ISU received first prize for the best registered student organization at ISU in May due partly to its cultural representation displayed at the festival. Additional information about the organization is available online.
Cole Loiacano is a news and features reporter for The Vidette. Loiacano can be contacted at clloiac@ilstu.edu.
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