By Liesje Powers Lariat Reporter
Mission Waco is hosting its annual Cultural Food and Dance Night at 5:45 p.m. Saturday at the World Cup Café and Jubilee Theatre.
This will be its eighth year of cultural celebration. The evening will consist of international foods and dance performances.
The “Taste Your Way Around the World” meal will include a selection of different cultural foods including: Czech Republic, Mexican, Korean, Caucus, Chinese, Russian, Vietnamese and Filipino.
After eating at the World Cup Café, attendees will move into the Jubilee Theatre to watch dancing from around the world.
Three Baylor groups, the Chinese Student Association, Vietnamese Student Association and the Indian Subcontinent Student Association (ISSA), will be dancing at the event. The Czech Republic, a dancing group from West will be performing as well as a few local groups who will represent Mexican and Filipino dancing.
The cultural night is a part of the founders of Mission Waco Mission World’s plan for the lesser-populated areas of Waco. Jimmy Dorrell, co-founder and executive director of Mission Waco, was drawn to the areas of town that have fallen from wealthy to lower income neighborhoods.
“Waco doesn’t have cultural groups like big cities with a refugee population,” Dorrell said. “It is all black, white and brown.”
Dorrell believes that events like the Cultural Food and Dance Night help the city better appreciate other cultures and is also a movement towards bringing back a healthy neighborhood in downtown Waco.
“This is just one kind of act to bring people back into the community,” Dorrell said. “It’s just a little piece of a lot of bigger things.”
Adult tickets are $15 before the event or $18 at the door. Youth tickets for those age 12 or under are $7 before the event or $10 at the door. Tickets are available in advance through www.jubileetheatre-waco.org or at their office, located at 1315 N. 15th St.
