When Tiffany Alexandria, founder of Choochoo-ca-Chew in Rochester, first started planning a culturally diverse nighttime market in the style of her native Taiwan, she estimated a few hundred people would show up to the front doorstep of the Mayo Civic Center.

But when July 15 rolled around, the final tally far exceeded that. Over 8,000 people visited what simply became known as The Night Market — more than 10 times the size of the crowd Alexandria first imagined.

“It was a lot to deal with, for sure,” said Alexandria. “But it was really gratifying to see this space filled with people that were all excited to try something new. It’s cool to see that energy here in Rochester.”

The first-ever Night Market in July / courtesy Choochoo-ca-Chew

As outdoor events make their way back, local event organizers like Alexandria are making the most of their opportunity to showcase the rich diversity of Rochester — and the community continues to prove that it’s something they want to see. The Night Market is just the latest example.

“I think this has been a great success already,” she said. “It seems like people could see this event as a cornerstone… it means a lot to a lot of people. Events like this in Rochester can happen, and they can be done well.”

Alexandria created this new event from scratch, sourcing roughly 30 vendors across the three scheduled markets while emphasizing the inclusion of local BIPOC-led businesses and eateries.

As Alexandria looks forward to the future of the event (past the next two dates on August 21 and September 18), she sees the Night Market playing an even greater role in recruiting lesser-known vendors to the series — with the hopes of helping them spread their wings past the Civic Center plaza.

“A lot of the vendors I want are not ready yet, and they’ll need some help to get where they need to be — because they’ve never done an event like this before,” she said. “I want to help them walk through the process, so they can sell legally at my event, plus everything else happening around town.”

Experiencing culture through art

From the same plaza where the Night Market sits, festival-goers could look up from their vantage point and see another major local celebration of culture — making its way across the state over the next year.

The Home of Memories exhibition, featuring portraits and stories from Iraqi Minnesotans, has populated the Rochester Art Center’s CityView Gallery for the better part of the summer. Two Iraqi-Minnesota photographers — photojournalist Ahmed Alshaikhli and visual artist Jaafar Alnabi — captured the stories of over a dozen fellow Iraqi immigrants and current Minnesota residents, detailing the successes and struggles of moving and adapting to a new culture.

The Home of Memories exhibition runs through August 29 / courtesy RAC — The *Home of Memories* exhibition runs through August 29 / courtesy RAC

Zoe Cinel, artistic curator for the Rochester Art Center, says the highlights of the 13-week exhibition came as they rolled out live events to complement the exhibition once per month — including live Iraqi music and talks with Iraqi storytellers and artists. Hundreds of people visited the cultural celebration held on July 24, she adds, featuring live calligraphy, Iraqi food, and bilingual children’s theatre activities.

Bringing people together to experience a culture firsthand, she says, offers the participant a new level of understanding — and hopefully, appreciation — of a way of life different from their own.

“It allows for a whole different level of immersion,” said Cinel. “The exhibit itself is thought-provoking, but it’s very serious and a bit heavy at times. The events bring the energy, and it acts as an invitation, in a sense — you get to actually taste the food, hear the music, and see what their culture is all about.”

The Iraqi American Cultural Celebration on July 24 / courtesy RAC

Home of Memories will be showcased at the Art Center through August 29, before heading to Minneapolis and St. Cloud over the next six months. Cinel will follow the exhibition herself through her role with art collective CarryOn Homes, but will continue her work as Art Center curator.

She says Rochester was the perfect city to experiment with the presentation and programming behind the exhibition. Through her work, she added, future exhibitions at the Art Center will also continue to highlight the various cultures that make up the Med City.

“There’s an interesting international flavor in Rochester, in my opinion,” said Cinel, herself an immigrant from Florence, Italy. “There’s many people that come here from all over the world because of Mayo. It’s a good place to start some important conversations — the politics of immigration, bringing cultures together, things like that — because people have been willing and eager to listen.”

Showcasing diversity ‘in everything we do’

Heidi Wilkins, Outreach and Education Coordinator for the Diversity Council in Rochester, says her organization has been dedicated to the same ideals Alexandria and Cinel are pushing for over three decades.

“One of our biggest goals is bringing different groups together,” said Wilkins. “We want to showcase as many groups as possible, because we know there are so many people that need their stories and experiences to be heard. It’s our job to uplift those voices any way we can.”

The Diversity Council’s live programming has historically centered around their Annual Celebration, bringing volunteers and community activists together under one roof for an evening of awards, entertainment and conversation. After being forced to move the event entirely online last year, Wilkins says the celebration is back in-person for 2021 — but not without some changes.

For the first time in their existence, the celebration, scheduled for August 12, will be held outside, substituting the traditional banquet hall for the Olmsted County History Center pavilion. This year’s event will include live music from Native American drummers/singers Manido Gwiiwizens, a breakdancing crew, live art from Leah Joy Bee, and food/drink from Jersey Jo’s, Taco Jed, Infuzen, and Little Thistle.

“We try to showcase diversity in everything we do,” said Wilkins. “Entertainment and food are just a few parts of that, but it’s always a highlight for me when we can bring them together.”

The events of the past 18 months — specifically, the pandemic and social justice movement of 2020 — have allowed the Diversity Council to re-think its strategies and expand its offerings, Wilkins says. Virtual events are here to stay — helping bring in people from across the world to talk to community members but the key to celebrating the city’s cross-cultural nature is in meeting people face-to-face.

“Through Covid, we learned we can connect with people even if we can’t connect physically,” she said. “But we know sometimes the conversations we have to have are kind of hard to do virtually, when we talk about issues around diversity, equity and inclusion. Even though I definitely enjoy my space, getting out and seeing actual humans? We need it.”

✏️ Story by Isaac Jahns

📷 Cover photo by William Forsman