CAMBRIDGE — The scent of smoked meats fused with the sound of public karaoke on Saturday night as hundreds of people packed Brattle Street, in celebration of the Harvard Square’s first Asian Night Market.
The street festival featured over a dozen different vendors, selling everything from pork skewers to jewelry. It was organized by the Harvard Square Business Association, along with the local Philippine American Alliance — though cuisine and curios from all across East Asia were on display.
Andrew Yang, 33, came to the event from Arlington with a friend. Standing at the edge of the festivities holding a half-finished Thai iced tea, he said he’d jumped into a line for one of the various food stands; what the line was for, he said, he had “no idea,” but that didn’t seem to faze him.
“I grew up in China, and a lot of food reminds me of the Chinese style,” he said.
The teeming crowd was full of Harvard students, some no doubt fresh off of the university’s move-in day, as well as parents and couples. Jeff Katz and Pam Gilman, of Cambridge, said that even with the holiday weekend, they were surprised at the turnout.
“This is insane,” Katz said. “In a good way.”
The two said they had been waiting in line for dinner for several minutes; similar to Yang, they didn’t realize they were waiting for Filipino food until they got close enough to see the stand. Despite the massive crowd making it nearly impossible to cross the short stretch of Brattle Street, the two said they were excited to try to navigate the rest of the offerings.
“It’s wonderful living in such a vibrant place with people from all over the world,” Katz said. “I love it.”
Though there was plenty in the way of food, there were also several booths for other cultural activities, including one for the Taiwanese Film Festival of Boston, which will be held on Sept. 19 and 20.
“We’re the only representation of Taiwan in the whole market,” said Jerry Lin, the film festival’s co-president, adding that visitors to the stand have been “surprised that there’s a Taiwan Film Festival. They didn’t really realize that we have this. So this [night market] is what we have to do: promote more and welcome audiences all over the Boston area.”
It was a surprise to Brian Yu, a Harvard Dental School student originally from Taiwan, who said he hadn’t expected representation from his home country at all.
“They said they’re inviting a Taiwanese director here” for the film festival, Yu said. “So that’s very cool.”
Yu’s friend Nguyen Nguyen, of Houston, said the market had great offerings, but mused that the tightly-packed crowd made it difficult to see all of them.
“I think this demonstrates that there’s a lot more interest [than expected],” he said. “So I think a bigger space to accommodate that would really make the whole experience more enjoyable for everyone.”
But Nguyen added that the long lines were proof enough that the festival filled an important niche for the local community, of Asian Americans and non-Asians alike.
“It’s a very cool thing to have … that kind of represents the diversity of people here,” Nguyen said. “Celebrating culture and sharing it with others is a really great way to just make us all realize that we’re more connected than we are different.”
Camilo Fonseca can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on X @fonseca_esq and on Instagram @camilo_fonseca.reports.
