On the evening of Nov. 16, Wake Forest’s South Asian Student Association (SASA) transformed Reynolds Gymnasium into a vibrant gathering space with food, music and cultural exchange. SASA has a track record of creating successful cultural events, and this year continued that trend of meaningful gatherings.

“Holiday Fest was created as a way to commemorate the holidays of Eid, Holi and Diwali,” said Owais Kamran, First-Year Experience Member in SASA. “But now, Holiday Fest functions as a celebration of South Asian culture in general.”

SASA was founded over 10 years ago and has since become one of the most prominent cultural groups on Wake Forest’s campus. It seeks to provide a space to celebrate South Asian culture and educate the broader Wake Forest community about South Asian traditions and customs. SASA organizes multiple events throughout the year, which is the organization’s main focus.

As SASA’s largest annual event, Holiday Fest provides diverse offerings to student attendees including dance performances by Deacon Dhamaal, Wake Forest’s Bollywood fusion dance team; free Henna tattooing and a desi-style buffet dinner with dishes such as palak paneer and chicken tikka masala. Over 1600 pounds of food were catered from Nawab Indian Cuisine for the event.

This year, SASA collaborated with the Muslim Student Association (MSA), the Hindu Student Association (HSA) and the World Tea Association for Holiday Fest.

“Working with those organizations gives us a lot of opportunities to change things up from previous years,” Kamran said. “They each bring their own unique contributions to the event.”

The World Tea Association provided free chai to student attendees, while the Muslim Student Union provided Rooh Afza, a traditional South Asian drink made of rose water and screw pine essence. Some non-cultural student groups on campus also pitched in to deliver Holiday Fest, such as Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity, which assisted in setting up and taking down the event.

“At the beginning of the semester, [SASA] planned out the events we were going to do this year,” Kamran explained. “For Holiday Fest, we knew we could draw upon resources from previous years, like the lights, decorations, and table cloths, which meant that most of the preparation process consists of reserving the space, catering the food and doing the marketing.”

Familiarizing the Wake Forest community with South Asian culture and expression is one of the aims of Holiday Fest, especially for students who feel those forms of expression are not encouraged on campus.

“It’s about spreading awareness that there are important holidays within South Asian communities,” Kamran said. “We are trying to encourage South Asian members of Wake Forest to be more comfortable with their identity, because there are some students who aren’t as expressive about that side of themselves. When I dress up for Holiday Fest, I get stares. It looks very different. Wearing a suit on this campus is one thing; wearing traditional South Asian attire is something else. We create [Holiday Fest] to be a comfortable space to show other members of Wake that we exist.”

This emphasis on comfort is what draws many South Asian Wake Forest students to Holiday Fest in the first place.

“For me, Holiday Fest helps me feel more connected to home, especially whenever I’m feeling lonely or out of place,” senior Janani Krishnakumari said. 

The event also attracts a diverse attendee base that expands far beyond Wake’s South Asian student population.

“It was nice running into friends and learning about the groups at [Holiday Fest],” said Asa Fleischer, who does not identify as South Asian. “The outfits had lots of personality and you could tell the event meant a lot to everyone involved. The food was also amazing and I had a great time.”

Looking to the future, SASA hopes to get even more students involved in their events. The 2024 Holiday Fest attracted around 300 students, and while this year’s numbers have not been released, the SASA leadership team hopes their increased marketing efforts, such as tabling in Benson and advertising in front of the Pit, paid off. 

“If more people show up to our events, we get more funding,” Kamran said. “It’s nice that Wake trusts its students enough to provide them with the resources to put on events like this. These events are important, not just for South Asian students, but for every student at Wake.”