Two communities in the Westwood neighborhood are coming together to throw a culturally fused night market filled with food, dancing, vendors and, most importantly, unity.
On Friday night from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m., the inaugural Saigon Azteca Night Market will take over the RISE Westwood Campus, at 3738 Morrison Rd. A combination of Latino and Asian culture will be on full display. (Full disclosure: Denverite is a media partner of the event.)
Think lion dancers twirling between Aztec dancers. Tacos topped with kimchi.
The Asian-Latino fusion event was put together by Hecho en Westwood and the Far East Center, a collaboration long in the making.
The groups, run by Damaris Ronkanen and Mimi Luong, respectively, have been throwing similar cultural events on their prospective sides of town for years
When entering Westwood by heading west on Alameda Avenue and crossing over Federal Boulevard, one can see the pagoda-style arch of the Far East Center.
Luong, owner of Truong An Gifts and property manager of the center, and her family have been throwing events centered around Asian holidays in the parking lot of the center since the '90s. Recently, those events, such as the Lunar New Year Celebration and the Mid-Autumn Festival, have grown in size under Luong's management.
If you ride past the Center, you'll hit the middle of Westwood on Morrison Road, lined with Latino-owned auto shops, restaurants and nonprofits, as well as the Denver Indian Center.
Ronkanen, owner of Cultura Chocolate, along with other community partners like BuCu West and Re:Vision, also organize Latino-centric gatherings on the strip or at the RISE Campus such as Cinco de Mayo celebrations and events centered around cultural food and food access.
The goal these spaces and events share is primarily to invite the community to have fun, but it's also to showcase their cultural identities.
"The intention of this event is about highlighting both parts of Westwood," Ronkanen said. "We both have very similar intentions with our events, very much about cultural preservation and supporting small businesses in our community."
Luong added that the Saigon Azteca Market is about merging both communities together while showing Denverites that these communities exist and that they stand in solidarity with each other.
Westwood is a neighborhood that has been historically underserved and underrecognized. Both the Asian and Latino residents of the neighborhood have felt the pressures of being in an area some resident know little about, except when it comes to redeveloping and in turn forcing long-time residents out.
"I think Westwood is the one of the very last cities that is not super gentrified yet," Luong said. "We really want to try to keep that as a cultural space. A place where if you want amazing traditional, authentic Mexican food, you have to come to Federal or come to Morrison Road. If you want the best pho, it's in this area."
Ronkanen added, "We both talk about gentrification a lot and just really wanting to make sure our communities and cultures aren't erased. I think we both put a lot of work into cultural preservation but if displacement happens and the actual communities are pushed out, at the end of the day, having cultural events like this kind of loses its meaning if the actual people aren't part of that."
Both Luong and Ronkanen also recognize that events like the Saigon Azteca Market could be branding the neighborhood as "trendy." Consistent large outdoor gatherings is one sign of gentrification, along with the cool coffee shops and bright colorful murals.
But both agree that these events are also needed because they help support local businesses and craft makers who otherwise may not have the ability to promote themselves or even have a platform outside their physical businesses to sell their goods.
That's the point of all the events Luong and Ronkanen throw: embracing ancestral heritage with community members and proudly showing it off to guests.
At the Saigon Azteca Night Market, the two heritages are being put on display in an intentionally blended way.
Each food vendor was asked to come up with one dish that mixed the two identities together. Luong and Ronkanen agreed that the task wasn't daunting because Latino and Asian food dishes share some similarities. Plus, there's a whole subsection of cuisine dedicated to Asian/Latin fusion. Think lomo saltado, a Peruvian-Chinese dish. Or the famous Chino Latino dining scene in New York.
"From a food standpoint, there are so many similarities in food in general," Ronkanen said. "I mean, we both heavily use chiles... tamarind, mangoes, and a lot of similar ingredients that could overlap. That's one of the things that I'm personally really excited about for this event, is just being able to see the creativity and uniqueness of the food."
At the night market, folks will see kimchi tacos from EHijole Tacos and KREAM Kimchi. Ninja Ramen will serve chicken teriyaki tostadas and help supply the goods for a birria ramen eating competition. The ramen spot will work with Noe Bermudez, owner of Kahlo's and Mariscos In Lak' Ech, to pair slow-cooked birria with perfectly cooked ramen noodles. It's a play on the famous pho eating contest Luong throws at the Little Saigon events.
Jade Mountain Brewery and Raices Brewery will serve a selection of their draft beers. Other fest vendors will offer mixed drinks like agua frescas with sake and a Sapporito kimchilada, a take on the michelada but with Sapporo, a Japanese beer.
On the entertainment side, Guiding Mountain Lion Dance and Hecho en Westwood's Danza Mexica will perform a joint dance. DJ Johnny J and DJ La Molly will mix K- and J-pop tunes with alt-Latino hits. And there'll be a K-pop dance performance from the Royals.
The art exhibit in the RISE Westwood art gallery will feature works from Latino and Asian artists. There will be a live painting session by Casey Kawaguchi, a graffiti artist and muralist inspired by his Japanese-American heritage, whose geishas and Asian deities grace walls all around Denver. Julio Mendoza will also be joining the live session. Mendoza is a surrealist artist whose colorful pieces are representative of his Mexican heritage.
In Lak'ech Denver Arts students will also put on a puppet show about the Asian zodiac and the history of Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent and creation deity worshiped by Aztec and Mayan cultures.
Luong and Ronkanen said they plan to host two Saigon Azteca Night Markets a year, with one taking place on Morrison Road at the RISE Campus and the other taking place at the Far East Center on Federal Boulevard. The second event could be held some time in Spring 2024.
Until then, Ronkanen and Luong said they hope Denverites will attend Friday night's event and learn about the two cultures sharing space in the small neighborhood.
"This event is just our first one, but we hope it can continue for many years to come," Luong said. "Who knows, maybe this can help preserve this area. Like just letting the city know that this area cannot be pushed out because these cultural things all happen here."
What: Saigon Azteca Night Market
Where & When: 3738 Morrison Rd. from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Plus: Come visit us! Denverite will have a booth at the Night Market. Stop by, say hello and leave a message on our phone.
