In honor of Filipino American History Month, FYA (Filipino Youth Association) organized a cultural exchange festival with Irvington’s fellow culture clubs, JAC (Japanese American Club), KACC (Korean American Culture Club), and Indopak. The AAPI Culture Exchange Fair event took place on October 26th, during lunch, with live performances and many traditional snacks. It showcased FYA’s iconic tinikling dance, VSA’s mesmerizing fan dance, and Indopak’s sitaare. Each culture club also had its own booth, for promotion and snacks, such as choco puffs, rice crackers, etc.
Not long after the event began, the courtyard was packed with people coming in and out, either for a quick snack or for a wonderful experience. The music and atmosphere of the event welcomed students from all cultures and brought everyone together. A KACC Fundraising officer, Gilbert Park (11), stated, “I enjoyed when we saw the performances that each club prepared. It was really cool and I definitely saw the hard work each person put in.” Many other Irvington students enjoyed the event as well, and are looking forward to future club events. Going to each cultural booth, trying different snacks, and watching all the performances were life-changing. Overall, the AAPI cultural exchange fair brought forth much excitement and spirit from Irvington.
Behind the scenes, planning the entire event and managing it was not all that easy. FYA and the other cultural clubs had begun planning since the beginning of October, so a lot of time and effort was put into the making of AAPI. “Communication was truly the key to coordinating this fair. Since this cultural exchange fair involved so many different clubs, and not to mention coordinating with ASG, it was important to let other clubs know in advance so it doesn’t interfere with anything future events”, Kirsten Villagracia (12), the media officer stated.
Additionally, the event was scheduled to be held in the Valhalla Theater but ended up taking place in the courtyard. This proved beneficial as it was “secretly a blessing in disguise because it drew so much attention throughout lunch and people were able to come and go as they please.” Claire Wong (10), an intern for VSA, claimed, “Setting up was pretty easy and there were no casualties.” On the day of the event, various cultural clubs ran back and forth to help set up during both advisory and 4th periods. Overall, planning and funding the event along with the physical setting up of the event was both a struggle and an easy task for various cultural clubs.
Although this year’s AAPI cultural exchange fair stood out as one of the biggest Irvington club events, many believe there is still room for improvement.“One thing I would change about the fair next year is to involve more performances from different clubs. While we were able to showcase clubs such as the Japanese American Club and Korean American Culture they weren’t able to perform. I think we would’ve had time to squeeze in two more performances in that time period”, says Kirsten Villagracia (12). In addition, Esha Ambre, co-president of Indopak notes, “Opening it up to other clubs like the Muslim student association in the future would be cool!” By displaying even more cultural diversity and hosting more traditional activities, the AAPI event is yet to improve! And that’s a wrap for the 2024 AAPI Culture Exchange Fair event!
